Patent Application
20150367208
The present invention relates to an assembly for assisting a user to obtain a selected golf club from a golf bag.
The invention has been developed primarily to assist in removing a selected golf club from a golf bag and will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular use.
Golf bags come in a variety of forms and have been available since the present form of the game of golf was developed about 200 years ago. Generally though golf bags have been of the form of a central cylinder closed at one end by a flat base and open at the other with a plurality of pockets attached or formed to the outside of the cylinder.
However a particular problem with golf bags are that the clubs are of differing lengths and include a golf club head that are of differing shapes angles and sizes and readily damaged. Therefor the clubs can form an admixture of golf clubs making selection difficult. The clubs can protrude at different levels therefore making location of the selected club difficult. The clubs can readily knock and rub against each other over the long periods of playing the game as well as the long periods of storage between games and therefore cause damage, particularly to the golf club head.
There are several devices for golf bags which assist in sorting golf clubs to make it locate the range of clubs. However this is usually in an accounting sense of aligning in number order and does nothing to allow protection while allowing more versatile selection of clubs.
There are devices for golf bags to make it easier to remove a selected golf club. However generally such devices are merely aligning devices that then require a different style of bag.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved assembly to assist in one or more of the following:
protection of the golf clubs;
allowing ready selection of a required golf club;
assisting removing a selected golf club;
assistance in selecting or determining the required golf club;
assistance in information with regard to selecting or determining the required golf club; or
to at least provide an alternative.
It is to be understood that, if any prior art information is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the information forms part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.
According to a first aspect, the present invention an assembly comprising actuatable means for moving a golf club for the club-head to extend further out of a golf club holder.
An assembly is provided which can comprise a golf club holder comprises a plurality of substantially parallel tubular formations each for receiving a respective golf club shaft of one of the golf clubs for holding a plurality of golf clubs, selection means for selecting a required golf club, and actuatable means for moving the selected golf club for the golf club to extend further out of the respective substantially tubular formation of the golf club holder.
The golf club holder can include a body forming the plurality of substantially parallel tubular formations each for receiving a respective golf club shaft of one of the golf clubs for holding a plurality of golf clubs. Alternatively the golf club holder comprises a body formed of the plurality of substantially tubular formations each for receiving a respective golf club shaft of one of the golf clubs.
The golf club holder comprises a generally cylindrical volume for the substantially tubular formations. It can comprise a substantially parallel cluster of the tubular formations within the generally cylindrical volume.
In one different embodiment the assembly of the golf club holder comprises a generally peripheral arrangement of the tubular formations within the generally cylindrical volume. The golf club holder can include one or more substantially central pockets accessible externally and substantially surrounded by the generally peripheral arrangement of the tubular formations within the generally cylindrical volume.
The assembly having the substantially parallel tubular formations of the golf club holder has a top end and a bottom end which can be relatively spaced for the parallel tubular formations to provide a differing length for receiving different length clubs.
Preferably the spacing of the top end to the bottom end of one of the substantially parallel tubular formations of the golf club holder is adjustable to allow selective length to match length of the different length clubs of a user.
The top end can be substantially planar across the substantially parallel tubular formations of the golf club holder.
More particularly the top end can be substantially planar across the substantially parallel tubular formations of the golf club holder and the substantially parallel tubular formations have relatively spaced top ends to respective bottom ends to receive different length clubs with the club-heads of the different length clubs each protrude substantially equally from the top end.
Preferably the assembly includes protective separators between the club-heads. This can be separate or in combination with the assembly having the substantially parallel tubular formations of the golf club holder being relative spacings of the tubular formations to space club-heads.
Preferably a closure plate is included at the top end with a moulded shaping for nestling the club-heads substantially in preformed top cavities wherein the golf clubs have minimal if any protrusion.
The assembly can have the top end extends substantially at an angle C to the elongated extension of the substantially parallel tubular formations and the bottom end extends at an angle B to the elongated extension of the substantially parallel tubular formations to form differing lengths of tubes
Preferably the assembly has selection means for selecting a required golf club includes a receiver for receiving details of a selected club for initiating the actuatable means.
Preferably, the actuatable means moves the golf club substantially along a longitudinal axis thereof in use.
Preferably, the assembly comprises a plurality of substantially tubular formations for receiving a respective golf club shaft.
Preferably, the assembly comprises selection means for moving a selected golf club.
Preferably, the actuatable means comprises means for engaging the shaft of the golf club.
Preferably, the actuatable means comprises a movable member onto which the grip end of the shaft rests in use.
Preferably, the movable member is movable between a lowered position and a raised position.
Preferably, the distance between the lowered and raised positions can be adjusted.
Preferably, each movable member is biased by a spring toward the raised position.
Preferably, the assembly comprises releasable locking means for locking the movable member in the lowered position thereof until the locking means is released as desired.
Preferably, the releasable locking means comprises biased movable locking tabs, magnetic or electromagnetic locking means, which when actuated release the lock hold thereof onto the member.
Preferably, the selection means comprises a control panel having buttons corresponding to a respective golf club.
The present invention in another aspect provides a golf bag comprising an assembly according to any one of the above.
Preferably, the golf bag comprises a bottom wall, an upwardly extending side wall and an upper opening, wherein the assembly comprises a plurality of generally tubular formations for receiving a respective golf club shaft.
Preferably, each tubular formation generally extends from the bottom wall to the upper opening.
Preferably, the tubular formations vary in length to accommodate different shaft lengths of golf clubs.
Preferably, the golf bag comprises a closure plate extending across the upper opening and engaging upper ends of the tubular formations, the closure plate comprising a plurality of spaced apertures respectively aligned with each tubular formation.
Preferably, lower ends of the tubular formations are mounted to a base housing adjacent the bottom wall.
Preferably, the assembly comprises a Global Positioning System (GPS).
Preferably, the assembly comprises a control means which can be programmed to move a recommended golf club up from the golf bag based on the position of the golf bag on the golf course in use.
Preferably, the control means comprises wireless connection to a smartphone running a golf GPS rangefinder application, wherein the control means can receive a signal from the application on which golf club to move based on the golfer's position on the course.
The present invention in another aspect provides a computer-implemented method of recommending a golf club to a golfer during play, the method comprising:
determining the position of the golfer along the golf course; and
moving a golf club for the club-head of a recommended golf club to extend further out of a golf club holder based on the position of the golfer.
The present invention in another aspect provides an assembly for longitudinally moving an elongated item, the assembly comprising actuatable means for engaging the item and moving the item substantially along a longitudinal axis thereof.
The present invention in another aspect provides an assembly comprising actuatable means for moving a club-head of golf club from a first position in a golf club holder to a second position relative to an opening of the golf club holder.
Preferably, the second position is further away from the first position relative to the opening.
The can comprise releasable locking means for locking the movable member in the lowered position thereof until the locking means is released as desired. The releasable locking means comprises biased movable locking tabs.
Preferably the releasable locking means comprises magnetic or electromagnetic locking means, which when actuated release the lock hold thereof onto the member.
Preferably the releasable locking means comprises control means for controlling the release of the speed of the platform.
The releasable locking means can comprise control means for controlling the release of the speed of the platform by electromagnetic control in opposition to a resilient expulsion force.
Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed. However it can be seen that the invention in various forms allows:
Gradient club height as a way of distinguishing between clubs based on natural club height
Focus on club orientation and height as an identifying factor for club selection
Use of horizontal linear actuators as ways of influencing 3rd party forces as a way of releasing the pop-up mechanism
Moving towards lower centre of gravity and compressing the tech pack.
Fundamentally, building on these considerations we can include 3 key design opportunities to provide our design with an inventive and unique pop-up mechanism
Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the present invention, preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
It should be noted in the following description that like or the same reference numerals in different embodiments denote the same or similar features.
The golf bag 10 can comprise an assembly 20 which is mounted into the internal space 16 to assist in sorting the different golf clubs within the bag 10 and in pushing up a selected golf club upwardly from the bag 10, such that the club-head of a selected golf club extends further out of the golf upper opening 14. However the golf bag 10 could be made integral with the assembly 20.
As shown in
The assembly 20 can as shown in
Each tube 22 comprises a lower end 24 and an upper end 26. A closure plate 30 extends across the upper opening 14 and engages the upper ends 26 of the tubes 22 to maintain them in a desired spaced configuration. The closure plate 30 comprises a plurality of spaced apertures 32 respectively aligned with each tube 22 to allow for insertion of a respective golf club shaft into the tube 22.
The lower ends 24 of the tubes 22 are mounted to a base housing 28 which also maintains them in a desired spaced configuration, and thus assists in maintaining the tubes 24 in their generally parallel arrangement. A retaining band 29 also assists in keeping the tubes 24 in their arrangement.
Each lower end 24 of the tubes 22 comprises a movable member 42 which is circular disc shaped in the embodiment and generally closes the respective lower end 22. Each member 42 is movable between a lowered (first) position at which it is aligned with and covers the respective lower end 22, and a raised (second) position at which it is moved inwardly into the tube 22 and spaced from the lower end 24. Each member 42 is biased by a spring 44 toward the raised position.
The base housing 28 comprises locking means 41 for locking each member 42 in the lowered position thereof until a selected member 42 is selectively released by a user as desired. The locking means 41 for example can be biased movable locking tabs or magnetic or electromagnetic locking means, which when actuated release the lock hold thereof onto the member 42. This results in the member 42 moving to its raised position as for example shown by member 42b in
The golf bag 20 comprises a control panel 50 having a number of selection buttons 52 and which is connected by wire 54 to the base housing 28. Each button 52 corresponds to the release of a respective member 42 from its respective locking means 41. The control panel 50 can also house power source means such as batteries or it can rechargeable batteries charged by solar panels disposed along the bag 10.
The entire assembly 20 is placed within the golf bag internal space 16 with the base housing 28 adjacent the bottom wall 12.
In a version of golf bag 10 and assembly 20 as shown in
However the assembly of the golf club having peripheral can further have the benefit of including one or more substantially central pockets accessible externally and substantially surrounded by the generally peripheral arrangement of the tubular formations within the generally cylindrical central cavity. In this way the space is fully utilised with the possibility of enlarged diameter without any increase in volume and therefore being readily usable on known golf buggies.
As shown in
As shown by the angle B it is possible for the base housing 28 to provide an inclined surface for the lower ends 24 of the tubes 22, such that the upper ends 26 of the tubes 22 can be disposed on the same level, with the closure plate 30 substantially parallel to the ground when the golf bag 10 is upright. This would position the club-heads at substantially the same level in their retracted positions, thus assisting removal of a selected golf club moved to its extended position. However the angle C formed by the upper opening 14 at the top of the generally cylindrical central cavity 16 also aids this length.
The golf clubs can have protective separators between the club-heads or merely rely on relative spacings of the tubular formations. This is particularly effective in the arrangement of
Due to the arrangement and substantial minimal variation of protrusion out of the golf club holder and as the selection of the golf club is from the shaft it is further available to protect the club-heads by having the closure plate with a moulded shaping for nestling the club-heads substantially in preformed top cavities. The golf clubs will then have minimal if any protrusion and provide even further substantial protection.
In use of assembly 20 in
Alternatively, the control panel 50 can have a single button for releasing all of the members 42. A golfer then ‘loads’ the golf club set into the golf bag 10 by inserting a respective golf club shaft, grip end first, into a respective tube 22 until the end of the grip engages the respective member 42 and moves the member 42 into its lowered position (see arrows 62). At this point, the locking means 41 of each tube 22 locks the member 42 in the lowered position. Thus, the grip end of the shaft rests on the movable member 42.
During a round of golf, the golfer will press a corresponding button 52 on the control panel 50 corresponding to the selected golf club. The buttons 52 are labelled to correspond to the golf club. Once a button 52 is pressed, its corresponding member 42 is released, thus moving the member 42 from its lowered position to its raised extended position via its spring 44. This engages the respective golf club and moves the golf club along its tube 22, thus substantially along a longitudinal axis of the golf club, from a generally retracted position of the golf club to a generally extended position relative to the other golf clubs.
Each member 42 is moved to its raised position from its lowered position when desired by a distance of between 5 to 20 cm, sufficient for the golfer's selected club-head to be raised from the golf bag 10 and the other club-heads and allow a golfer to easily remove the selected golf club from the bag 10. After performing a shot, the golfer would then re-insert the golf club into its respective tube 22 until the member 42 is pushed back and locked to its lowered position.
It can thus be seen that the present invention assists a golfer in removing a selected golf club from the golf bag. It can be sometimes frustrating for golfers to remove a selected golf club from a golf bag as the clubs can get tangled with each other. The present invention minimises such frustrations, thus enhancing the golfer's experience in playing the game and allows the golfer to concentrate on his/her shot without undue distraction.
Whilst preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be apparent to skilled persons that modifications can be made to the embodiments described. For example, engaging the golf club shafts for moving them can be performed by other means such as linear actuators, or the shafts can alternatively be engaged along the shaft length by a gripping means instead of the shaft end. The tubes 22 can also be alternatively formed as dividers formed within the golf bag 10. The distance between the lowered and raised positions of the movable member can also be adjusted, or the raised position of the movable member relative to the bag can be adjusted, to adjust how much the club-head moves when a golf club is selected. The operations of the selection means can be in a number of forms as shown by
In
In
In
In
Referring to
Alternatively, the control panel 50 can have wireless connection means such as Bluetooth™ to a smartphone such as an iPhone™. The Smartphone can then have a golf GPS rangefinder application running which has pre-programmed golf courses. The application would then send a signal to the control panel 50 on which golf club to recommend to the golfer based on the golfer's position on the course.
As shown in
A first step 91 is to detect the golf clubs are in position in an active position such that the club is in the respective operative position. This can include the operation of forcing down the actuatable means such as against the spring of
A second step 92 which can take place on the golf course is to select a required golf club including determining the selected club according to one or more inputted criteria. A criteria of the determining of the selected club is by determining the position of the golfer along the golf course. The position of the golfer along the golf course is automatically determined by GPS.
A third step 93 is for the actuatable means to receive details of a selected club for initiating an actuatable means and instructing the actuatable means to move the selected golf club for the club-head to extend further out of a golf club holder.
Thereby in use the fourth step 94 is achieved in that the computer-implemented method which is operatively connectable to an assembly comprising actuatable means is able to move a selected club-head of golf club from a first position in a golf club holder to a second position relative to an opening of the golf club holder wherein the second position is further away from the first position relative to the opening.
The computer-implemented method can be reset in step 95 such that upon undertaking shot with selected club and reinserting into assembly 20 the control system 50 is ready to undertake further select at further position of the resting place of the golf ball.
The transducer 1040 in this embodiment can comprise the GPS.
The device 100 comprises semiconductor memory 110 comprising volatile memory such as random access memory (RAM) or read only memory (ROM). The memory 100 may comprise either RAM or ROM or a combination of RAM and ROM.
The device 100 comprises a computer program code storage medium reader 130 for reading the computer program code instructions from computer program code storage media 120. The storage media 120 may be optical media such as CD-ROM disks, magnetic media such as floppy disks and tape cassettes or flash media such as USB memory sticks.
The device further comprises I/O interface 140 for communicating with one or more peripheral devices. The I/O interface 140 may offer both serial and parallel interface connectivity. For example, the I/O interface 140 may comprise a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), Universal Serial Bus (USB) or similar I/O interface for interfacing with the storage medium reader 130. The I/O interface 140 may also communicate with one or more human input devices (HID) 160 such as keyboards, pointing devices, joysticks and the like. The I/O interface 140 may also comprise a computer to computer interface, such as a Recommended Standard 232 (RS-232) interface, for interfacing the device 100 with one or more personal computer (PC) devices 190. The I/O interface 140 may also comprise an audio interface for communicate audio signals to one or more audio devices 1050, such as a speaker or a buzzer.
The device 100 also comprises a network interface 170 for communicating with one or more computer networks 180. The network 180 may be a wired network, such as a wired Ethernet™ network or a wireless network, such as a Bluetooth™ network or IEEE 802.11 network. The network 180 may be a local area network (LAN), such as a home or office computer network, or a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet or private WAN.
The device 100 comprises an arithmetic logic unit or processor 1000 for performing the computer program code instructions. The processor 1000 may be a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) or complex instruction set computer (CISC) processor or the like. The device 100 further comprises a storage device 1030, such as a magnetic disk hard drive or a solid state disk drive.
Computer program code instructions may be loaded into the storage device 1030 from the storage media 120 using the storage medium reader 130 or from the network 180 using network interface 170. During the bootstrap phase, an operating system and one or more software applications are loaded from the storage device 1030 into the memory 110. During the fetch-decode-execute cycle, the processor 1000 fetches computer program code instructions from memory 110, decodes the instructions into machine code, executes the instructions and stores one or more intermediate results in memory 100.
The device 100 also comprises a video interface 1010 for conveying video signals to a display device 1020, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), cathode-ray tube (CRT) or similar display device.
The device 100 also comprises a communication bus subsystem 150 for interconnecting the various devices described above. The bus subsystem 150 may offer parallel connectivity such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), conventional Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) and the like or serial connectivity such as PCI Express (PCIe), Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (Serial ATA) and the like.
The golf bag 10 is intended to be offered to golfers with the assembly 20 mounted therein. Alternatively, the assembly 20 can be offered as a retrofit kit and sized for existing bags, with a shaped closure plate 30 for the respective bag. The assembly can also be used with other golf club holders such as display stands or permanent golf club holders in golf carts.
Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.
Similarly it should be appreciated that in the above description of example embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments are hereby expressly incorporated into this Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.
Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form different embodiments, as would be understood by those in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.
As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal adjectives “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.
Specific Details In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.
In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar technical purpose. Terms such as “forward”, “rearward”, “radially”, “peripherally”, “upwardly”, “downwardly”, and the like are used as words of convenience to provide reference points and are not to be construed as limiting terms.
In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word “comprise” or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising” are used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.
Any one of the terms: including or which includes or that includes as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus, including is synonymous with and means comprising.
Thus, while there has been described what are believed to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention. For example, any formulas given above are merely representative of procedures that may be used. Functionality may be added or deleted from the block diagrams and operations may be interchanged among functional blocks. Steps may be added or deleted to methods described within the scope of the present invention.
Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.
It is apparent from the above, that the arrangements described are applicable to the golf and sport industries.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013900312 | Jan 2013 | AU | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/AU2014/000061 | 1/31/2014 | WO | 00 |
