Land vehicles – Wheeled – Extensible
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-24
2001-04-17
Vanaman, Frank (Department: 3611)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Extensible
C280S047260, C280SDIG006, C206S315600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06217042
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a golf club carrying case designed for travelling. More specifically, the present invention relates to a golf club case that functions as both a golf bag and a travel case.
A golfer's clubs often represent a significant investment in money and time. Modem clubs are expensive. In addition, since many golfers are likely to have a favorite putter, favorite wedges, favorite drivers, etc. that have been acquired separately, a golfer's clubs represent a unique and irreplaceable set. Finally, golfers spend countless hours becoming familiar with their own clubs. With these factors in mind, it's no wonder that every golfer prefers to use his own clubs. In fact, most golfers keep their clubs in the car, always available for the unexpected opportunity to play a few holes or just hit some balls.
Business and vacation travel, however, present a dilemma: the average golf bag is open, heavy, and cumbersome, which makes it difficult to check as airline baggage or include in a fully loaded vehicle. On business trips, clothing, documents, samples, a laptop computer, etc. all take priority over a golf bag. And while the golf bag may be given greater priority for vacation travel, the overall bulk of the bag frequently means it gets left at home because using rental clubs is often much more convenient.
A number of inadequate solutions to this problem can be found in the marketplace. Most standard circular golf bags come with covers that can be snapped or zipped on over the exposed club heads. While such covers keep the clubs in the bag, they do little to protect the heads of the clubs. If the bag is dropped, thrown, or has other luggage or cargo packed on top of it, the club head, shafts, and the bag itself feel almost the full force of the impact. Further, covers offer little or no security, accessory pockets remain readily accessible and even if locked on, covers can easily be slit.
A slight improvement over a cover for the club heads are full-length bag covers made of heavy-duty fabric. Full covers have the advantage of protecting the outside of the bag from moisture and dirt and a locking zipper may provide some security. However, while perfect for the car, such covers provide insufficient protection against the abuse that checked luggage undergoes.
Offering slightly better security are cases that are readily available in discount sporting goods stores. Such cases are typically configured as a clamshell or a pair of telescoping tubes. These cases are sized to hold a standard golf bag, and usually permit the addition of a padlock to prevent a casual thief from searching for desirable items. While these bags provide some protection during travel, the heads of the club are typically not protected unless the user takes the time to wrap them individually.
A cross between soft covers and hard-shell cases are the cases described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,001 to Kim and U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,185 to Schurman. These patents both describe hard-shell conventionally shaped cases that have auxiliary covers to protect the club heads. However, both bags are extremely bulky and the club heads are free to move.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,906 to Lombardo, et al. describes a bag configured for use on motorized carts having a padded hinged cover that holds the club heads in place. While offering improved protection for the clubs, the described bag is large, conventionally shaped, and appears best suited for semi-permanent attachment to a powered golf cart.
Because a standard golf bag permits the club heads and shafts to move around it is difficult for any case or protective device designed for use with a standard bag to really secure the clubs. In addition, such cases and protective devices add to the significant bulk and weight of standard bags.
Cases configured for travel are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,761 to Fumia, U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,992 to Bowdy, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,290 to McCuaig, et al. Unfortunately, all of these cases are poor substitutes for a standard golf bag. The manner in which these cases are configured results in an awkward presentation of the clubs for play, requires that they be mounted on a cart or carried, and dictates that in many situations the cases must be closed after a club has been selected in order to permit the case to be moved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns a golf travel case that is light and slim and holds each of the clubs individually to protect them from damage during travel. The case can be securely closed to discourage casual theft and make it easy to transport. When open, the case gives easy access to all the clubs during play.
A golf travel case according to the present invention includes a first housing having a first mounting wall surrounded at its periphery by a first side wall, the first housing being elongated and generally cup shaped with an open side at a free edge of the first side wall. A means for retaining “irons” in a heads up position is attached to an interior surface of the first housing and includes a club head retainer being divided into a plurality of compartments formed between adjacent dividers angled with respect to vertical to correspond with an angle of an associated club head relative to the shaft to which it is attached. The case also includes a mating second housing having a mounting wall surrounded at its periphery by a second side wall, the second housing being elongated and generally cup shaped with an open side at a free edge of the second side wall, the free edge of the first side wall mating with the free edge of the second side wall when the open sides are facing each other. A means for retaining “woods” in a heads down position is attached to an interior surface of the second housing. An elongated spacer is pivotally connected along one edge to a longer portion of the first side wall and pivotally connected along another edge to a longer portion of the second side wall whereby when the free edges of the first and second side walls are engaged, the golf travel case is in a closed position and the spacer abuts outer surfaces of the first and second side walls, and wherein the first and second housings are individually pivotable relative to the spacer to open the golf travel case, each of the first and second housings being pivotable through an arc greater than 180° to a fully open position of the golf travel case wherein exterior surfaces of the first and mounting walls abut.
One object of the present invention is to provide a golf travel case that is configured to be easily transported by car or as checked airline luggage.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf travel case that protects the clubs during travel and can be fixed in an open configuration to permit the clubs to be played directly out of the case.
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Farese Martin S.
Kurtz Richard D.
MacMillan Sobanski & Todd LLC
Vanaman Frank
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