Golf club positioning bottom rack for golf bag

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6464076
  • Patent Number
    6,464,076
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, February 21, 2001
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 15, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Young; Lee
    • Ngo; Lien
    Agents
    • Troxell Law Office PLLC
Abstract
A golf club bottom positioning rack made of foam material and fastened to the inside of the bottom cuff of a golf bag and adapted to hold golf clubs in the golf bag. The golf club bottom positioning rack having at least two vertically spaced decks, each deck having rows of insertion holes and engagement fins at two sides of each insertion hole. The insertion holes of the decks are respectively vertically aligned for receiving the grips of golf clubs being inserted into the golf bag. The diameter of the insertion holes of a lower deck is greater than the diameter of the insertion holes of an upper deck.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a golf bag and, more specifically, to a golf club positioning bottom rack for use in a golf bag to hold golf clubs in place, which provides a friction force with the grip of each golf club inserted therein, keeping each inserted golf club positively secured in place.




A golf bag is used for carrying golf clubs including putters, iron clubs and wooden clubs. When moving or tilting a golf bag or putting it on the ground, the loaded golf clubs may be forced to hit one against another, causing a damage to the surface of the shaft of each golf club. In order to eliminate this problem, positioning means shall be used to hold golf clubs in the golf bag in good order.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a golf club positioning bottom rack for golf bag, which provides a friction force with the grip of each golf club inserted therein, keeping each inserted golf club positively secured in place in the golf bag. According to one aspect of the present invention, the golf club bottom positioning rack is made of foam material and fastened to the inside of the bottom cuff of a golf bag and adapted to hold golf clubs in the golf bag. The golf club bottom positioning rack comprises at least two vertically spaced decks, each deck having rows of insertion holes. The insertion holes of the decks are respectively vertically aligned for receiving the grips of golf clubs being inserted into the golf bag. The diameter of the insertion holes of a lower deck is greater than the diameter of the insertion holes of an upper deck. According to another aspect of the present invention, each deck comprises a plurality of horizontal splits respectively extended from two opposite sides of each insertion holes and defining a plurality of engagement fins for engaging the peripheral wall of the grip of each golf club being inserted into the golf bag.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a golf club positioning bottom rack for golf bag according to the present invention.





FIG. 2

is a perspective view of a part of the present invention, showing a golf club fastened to the golf club positioning bottom rack.





FIG. 3

is a side plain view of FIG.


2


.





FIG. 4

is an applied view of the present invention, showing the golf club positioning bottom rack installed in a golf bag.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to FIGS. from


1


through


4


, a golf club positioning bottom rack


1


is fixedly fastened to the inside of the bottom cuff of a golf bag


3


and adapted to hold golf clubs in the golf bag


3


in good order. The golf club positioning bottom rack


1


is molded from foam material comprising at least two vertically spaced decks


11


. Each deck


11


comprises multiple rows of insertion holes


111


. The insertion holes


111


of the decks


11


are respectively vertically aligned. However, the diameter of the insertion holes


111


of a lower deck


11


is relatively greater than the diameter of the insertion holes


111


of an upper deck


11


, so as to fit the shape of the grip


21


of a golf club


2


. Each deck


11


further comprises a plurality of horizontal splits


112


respectively extended from two opposite sides of each insertion hole


111


, defining a plurality of engagement fins


113


for engaging the peripheral wall of the grip


21


of each golf club


2


inserted therein. Because the golf club positioning bottom rack


1


is made of flexible material, it does not scratch the surface of the golf club


2


inserted therein.




Referring to

FIGS. 2 and 3

again, the diameters of the insertion holes


111


are smaller than the grip


21


of the golf club


2


, the grip


21


of the golf club


2


is positively secured in place after inserted into one line of vertically aligned insertion holes


111


in the golf club positioning bottom rack


1


. After insertion of the grip


21


into one line of vertically aligned insertion holes


111


in the golf club positioning bottom rack


1


, the respective engagement fins


113


are deformed and curved downwards to produce a friction resistance with the grip


21


, keeping the grip


21


of the inserted golf club


2


positively secured in place. Further, the golf club positioning bottom rack


1


is used with a golf club top positioning rack (not shown), which is fastened to the inside of the top cuff of the golf gag


3


, so that inserted golf clubs are kept in good order.




Referring to

FIG. 4

again, partition plates


12


are formed integral with the decks


11


to separate the rows of insertion holes


11


. The partition plates


12


can be upwardly extended to the top cuff of the golf bag


3


. In this case, a golf club top positioning rack is not necessary.




It is to be understood that the drawings are designed for purposes of illustration only, and are not intended for use as a definition of the limits and scope of the invention disclosed.



Claims
  • 1. A positioning rack configured to be fastened to an inside of a bottom cuff of a golf bag, and comprising:a) at least two vertically spaced apart decks, each deck having a plurality of rows of insertion holes, the insertion holes of one deck being aligned with the insertion holes of an adjacent deck, diameters of the insertion holes increasing in a direction from an uppermost deck to a lowermost deck; b) a plurality of elongated partition plates connecting the at least two vertically spaced apart decks, the partition plates extending between adjacent rows of insertion holes; and, c) a plurality of horizontal slits extending from two opposite sides of each insertion hole forming a plurality of deformable engagement fins, all the engagement fins located so as to engage grip portions of golf clubs inserted into the insertion holes.
  • 2. The positioning rack of claim 1 wherein the plurality of elongated positioning plates are formed integrally with the at least two spaced apart decks.
  • 3. The positioning rack of claim 2 wherein the plurality of elongated positioning plates and the at least two spaced apart decks are made of a foam material.
  • 4. The positioning rack of claim 1 wherein the at least two spaced apart decks and the plurality of elongated positioning plates are made of flexible material.
  • 5. The positioning rack of claim 1 further comprising three vertically spaced apart decks.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Number Name Date Kind
4753446 Mills Jun 1988 A
4852896 Mills Aug 1989 A
4915221 Spangler Apr 1990 A
5029703 Dulyea Jul 1991 A
5135107 Ingraham Aug 1992 A
5732819 Nishimura et al. Mar 1998 A
6102202 Jones Sep 2000 A