Special receptacle or package – For a sport implement – exercise device – or game – For a golf club
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-16
2001-08-07
Shoap, Allan N. (Department: 3727)
Special receptacle or package
For a sport implement, exercise device, or game
For a golf club
C206S315300, C211S070200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06269947
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf bag. More particularly, the present invention relates to a golf bag which includes at least two or more decks with significant height differences so that the clubs in each deck are completely isolated from the clubs in other decks, thus providing a better club protection when the bag is being transported or in motion.
2. Description of Related Art
Typical golf bags sold in the marketplace today have a shape of a cylinder with a single tier design at the top with a very slight angle. The height of these bags are about the length of a sand wedge and the head portion of golf clubs of various lengths stick out of the bag when they are placed in the bag. During transport by a person or golf cart, the clubs move back and forth due to rocking and shaking motions of the bag. Consequently, the clubs tend to hit each other when the bags are transported by a person or golf cart, causing the heads of the similar-sized clubs to strike each other. In addition, the shafts of the longer clubs, such as the driver and the woods, are continually struck by the heads of shorter irons and/or putter. Thus, not only the heads of all clubs are subject to damage, but particularly the shafts of taller clubs, which are typically made of graphite materials, are often damaged.
Golf club head covers are sometimes used for driver and woods with longer shafts, however, the impact of the hits among the golf clubs is often strong enough to go right through these covers and cause damage to the graphite shafts of these very expensive clubs. Frequently, the shaft and neck of very expensive driver or woods are broken as golf bags accidentally fall down to the side. Thus, club protections provided by head covers are insufficient.
Many top end of traditional golf bags are divided into several sections to allow clubs to be inserted in a sorted manner. Some dividers are designed to extend all the way down to the bottom of the bag. However, it is impossible to protect club shafts from being hit by other shorter clubs that are inserted right next to them within the same section or the shorter clubs that are put into one of the neighboring sections. Some bags today have a non-circular shape and a top end designed with many sections with slightly different heights that are somewhat apart from one another to keep the clubs away from each other as much as possible. But, again it is impossible to fully protect the clubs from each other because the physical separation of these sections are not sufficient and the top portions of the club shafts are still exposed well above the top of these golf bags.
Some bags are made with individual vertical tubes or compartments for each of the clubs. These bags provide better organization and easier club access in and out of the bag. However, the distance among the club holes are too small, and again good portions of the club shafts of longer clubs do stick out of the bag, thus being exposed for potential physical damage.
The clubs make undesired excessive noises when golf bags are transported by golf cart, thus bothering other players when they are trying to concentrate to hit their balls. In addition, the club vibrations while being transported by a golf cart are very severe and shorten the life of clubs. The shaft is damaged by not only by the one-sided, uneven distribution of head weight which causes a slight bend over time, but also from literally non-countable, visible and non-visible vibrations when the bags are shaken by a moving golf cart.
Clubs are typically inserted into the bag in a disorderly manner and it is difficult to find the needed clubs without often going through many clubs. Likewise, putting the clubs back into the same spot of golf bag is often a challenge. These problems waste golfers' time and unnecessary energy and attention away from the game. Also, when clubs are missing from golf bag, it is not easy to identify the missing clubs in today's bags since it is difficult to insert golf clubs in any organized fashion and the inserted golf clubs are often tangled up with each other.
Although golf bags come with a golf bag cover, the clubs move around freely within the golf bag during transportation, especially during traveling, thus causing damage to golf clubs. Club shafts, especially those of driver and woods that stick out of a golf bag the most, often break during transportation especially if the bag is handled improperly in cargo areas or is hit by other heavy luggage. Some people pack the bag with towels around the necks of long driver and woods to give an extra protection when they ship the golf bag through an airport.
People spend lots of money to protect their golf clubs and yet accomplish very little. They buy club head covers for woods and irons. They buy separate traveling golf bag covers into which the entire golf bag is inserted. Yet the clubs still move around inside the space within the golf bag cover which comes with the bag.
Traditional golf bags filled with clubs are often unbalanced due to the fact that clubs are often inserted in a disorderly manner causing uneven weight distribution. This causes the bag to fall and increase the possibility of damaging the club shafts.
The top section of some of the golf bags are designed with little tiny holes, sometimes with soft rubber material, to accommodate individual clubs. Although the movement of club shafts is reduced significantly when individual holes are made reasonably small, it is very difficult to put the clubs back into those small holes during the playing time. It is time-consuming and the players are often pressured with other things related to the game. More importantly, those tiny holes do not really protect club shafts; in fact, they make a ring around the graphite club shafts after some use. Also, the distances among those holes are too small to prevent the club heads from hitting the shafts of other nearby clubs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a golf bag that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag which facilitates complete and comprehensive protection of golf club shafts through elimination of direct hits by other club heads in the same golf bag.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag which is easy to organize and access golf clubs as they are sorted into clusters and put into different decks and compartments.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag which facilitates time saving due to: elimination of the need for taking off and putting on club head covers during the game; and minimizing the time wasted to look for the right clubs during the game.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag which facilitates lowering the probability of losing golf clubs out in the field by enabling quick identification of a club loss through a quick visual check of missing clubs.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag which facilitates elimination or minimization of undesired, disturbing, and distracting noises that are caused by the clubs, hitting rapidly one another especially when they are carried on a cart during the game.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag which facilitates cost savings due to elimination of the need to purchase expensive golf club head covers, iron head covers, individual tubes designed to protect single club, and traveling bags.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag which facilitates much more even balance of the bag for the carrying the bag.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag which facilitates prevention of unexpected falling of the bag caused by uneven weight distribution and imbalance caused by disorderly inserted clubs in traditional bags.
To achieve these objects and provide other advantages, and in accordance with the purpose of the inv
Jacobson & Holman PLLC
Mai Tri M.
Shoap Allan N.
LandOfFree
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