Patent Publication Number: US-2003234502-A1

Title: Locking mechanism for locking/unlocking the folding frame structure of a folding golf cart

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to a folding frame structure for golf cart and, more particularly, to a locking mechanism for locking the folding frame structure of a folding golf cart.  
       [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art  
       [0004]FIG. 1 shows a golf cart constructed according to the prior art. According to this design, the golf cart comprises a folding frame structure A. The folding frame structure A comprises a lower main frame A 1  holding two wheels B bilaterally at the bottom side and two bag cradles C at the front and rear end thereof, and an upper main frame A 2  pivoted to the lower main frame A 1 . The lower main frame A 1  has a locating rod A 11  extended from the front end thereof. The upper main frame A 2  has a front end terminating in a handgrip D. A sliding socket E is coupled to the upper main frame A 2  and adapted for receiving the locating rod A 11 . When the upper main frame A 2  extended out, the sliding socket E is moved backwards along the upper main frame A 2  into engagement with the locating rod A 11  to hold the upper main frame A 2  in the operative position. This folding frame structure A is not satisfactory in function. When the golf cart moved over an uneven ground area, the sliding socket E may be forced away from the locating rod A 11 , thereby causing the folding frame structure A to collapse.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005] The present invention has been accomplished to provide a locking mechanism for locking the folding frame structure of a folding golf cart, which eliminates the aforesaid problem. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a locking mechanism for golf cart, which is easy to operate. It is another object of the present invention to provide a locking mechanism for golf cart, which is practical in use for locking the folding frame structure of the golf cart positively in the extended operative position. According to the present invention, the locking mechanism is installed in the upper main frame and lower main frame of a folding golf cart and adapted for locking the upper main frame in an extended operative position in axial alignment with the lower main frame. The locking mechanism comprises a receptacle fixedly provided in a front end of the lower main frame, and a spring-supported latch means provided at the upper main frame and adapted for engaging into the receptacle to lock the upper main frame when the upper main frame turned to the extended operative position.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0006]FIG. 1 illustrates a folding golf cart constructed according to the prior art.  
     [0007]FIG. 2 illustrates a folding golf cart constructed according to the present invention.  
     [0008]FIG. 2A is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 2 showing the locking mechanism unlocked.  
     [0009]FIG. 3 illustrates the locking mechanism unlocked, the folding frame structure collapsed according to the present invention.  
     [0010]FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the latch unit of the locking mechanism according to the present invention.  
     [0011]FIG. 5 is an assembly view of the latch unit shown in FIG. 4.  
     [0012]FIG. 6 is a sectional assembly view of the latch unit according to the present invention.  
     [0013]FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the latch unit showing the latch moved forwards relative to the casing according to the present invention.  
     [0014]FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the latch unit showing the latch moved backwards relative to the casing according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
     [0015] Referring to FIGS. 2, 2A and  3 , a golf cart folding frame structure  10  is shown comprised of a lower main frame  1  and an upper main frame  2  pivoted to the lower main frame  1 . The upper main frame  2  can be turned relative to the lower main frame  1  between the extended operative position approximately in axial alignment with the lower main frame  1 , and the received non-operative position. A locking mechanism is provided for locking the upper main frame  2  in the extended operative position. The locking mechanism comprises a receptacle  11  fixedly provided at one end, namely, the front end of the lower main frame  1 , and a latch unit  3  provided at the upper main frame  2 .  
     [0016] Referring to FIGS. from  4  through  6 , the latch unit  3  comprises a casing  31 , two compression springs  30 , and a latch  32 . The casing  31  comprises two parallel mounting holes  311  bilaterally disposed near the bottom side thereof and axially extended through the front and rear sidewalls thereof for coupling to the upper main frame  2 , a latch slot  312  extended through the front and rear sidewalls and spaced above the mounting holes  311 , a first spring groove  313  disposed in the top side of the latch slot  312  and extended to the rear sidewall of the casing  31 , a second spring groove  314  disposed in the bottom side of the latch slot  312  corresponding to the first spring groove  313  and extended to the front sidewall of the casing  31 . The first spring groove  313  and the second spring groove  314  are extended in reversed directions, each having an inner close end and an outer open end. The latch  32  is inserted into the latch slot  312  of the casing  31 , comprising a spring groove  320  longitudinally disposed in the top sidewall thereof corresponding to the first spring groove  313  of the casing  31 , a top stop  321  disposed in one end of the spring groove  320  corresponding to the open end of the first spring groove  313  of the casing  31 , and a bottom stop  322  protruded from the bottom sidewall thereof corresponding to the open end of the second spring groove  314  of the casing  31 . One of the compression springs  30  is received in the first spring groove  313  of the casing and the spring groove  320  of the latch  32  and stopped between the inner close end of the first spring groove  313  and the top stop  321  of the latch  32 . The other of the compression springs  30  is received in the second spring groove  314  of the casing  31  at the bottom side of the latch  32  and stopped between the inner close end of the second spring groove  314  of the casing  31  and the bottom stop  322  of the latch  32 .  
     [0017] Referring to FIGS. from  6  through  8  again, because the top stop  321  and bottom stop  322  of the latch  32  are respectively stopped at the compression springs  30  in the spring grooves  313 ; 314  inside the casing  31 , the latch  32  is prohibited from falling out of the casing  31  (see FIG. 6), and can be moved axially forwards (see FIG. 7) or backwards (see FIG. 8) relative to the casing  31 . When released the latch  32 , the compression springs  30  automatically return the latch  32  from the position shown in FIG. 7 or the position shown in FIG. 8 to the position shown in FIG. 6.  
     [0018] When extending out the folding frame structure  10  of the lower main frame  1  and the upper main frame  2 , pull the latch  32  backwards from the position shown in FIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 8, for enabling the upper main frame  2  to be turned to the extended operative position in axial alignment with the lower main frame  1  as shown in FIGS. 2 and 2A, and then release the latch  32  from the hand, enabling the compression springs  30  to return the latch  32  to the position shown in FIG. 6 where the front end  324  of the latch  32  is engaged into the receptacle  11  to lock the upper main frame  2  in the extended operative position. On the contrary, when pulling the latch  32  backwardly away from the receptacle  11 , the upper main frame  2  is unlocked and can be turned relative to the lower main frame  1  to the received non-operative position.  
     [0019] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 again, the casing  31  further comprises a plurality of sliding tracks  315  disposed in parallel to the spring grooves  313 ; 314 , and the latch  32  comprises a plurality of longitudinal rails  323  respectively coupled to the sliding tracks  315  for guiding movement of the latch  32  relative to the casing  31 .  
     [0020] Further, the mounting holes  311  of the casing  31  are made subject to the structure of the upper main frame  2 , i.e., the number and shape of the mounting holes  311  are determined subject to the number and cross section of the frame rods of the upper main frame  2 .  
     [0021] Referring to FIGS. 2, 4, and  6  again, the front end  324  of the latch  32  is beveled for easy insertion into the receptacle  11 . The receptacle  11  has a beveled front guide edge  111  adapted for guiding the latch  32  into the locking position.  
     [0022] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6 again, the close inner end of the second spring groove  314  of the casing  31  has an opening  316  for allowing the bottom stop  322  of the latch  32  to pass when inserting the latch  32  into the latch slot  312  of the casing  31  during the assembly of the latch unit  3 .  
     [0023] A prototype of locking mechanism for locking the folding frame structure of a golf cart has been constructed with the features of FIGS.  1 ˜ 8 . The locking mechanism functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier.  
     [0024] Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.