CA1293177C - Golf club cleaning machine - Google Patents

Abstract

"GOLF CLUB CLEANING MACHINE"

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
This invention relates to a golf club cleaning machine characterized by a compartmented carousel having an annular tray-forming basket suspended therebeneath which holds several clubs in side-by-side upstanding circular relation for rotation therewith one-at-a-time past one or more nozzles which spray a high-pressure jet of cleaning fluid at least against the hitting face and sole of each club as it passes. An internal baffle having a concave undersurface redirects any cleaning fluid directed or splashing upwardly thereagainst back down onto the exposed portions of the club shafts and the club heads before it can reach the handgrips or otherwise escape from the machine through the opening in the lid. This baffle has inwardly-extending radially-directed slots that divide same into a plurality of individual flaps which deflect as needed to pass the club heads as they are inserted and removed from the tray.

Description

i7 TITLE OF THE INV~NTION
GOLF CLUB CLEANING MACnINL

BACKGROUND OF ~E INV~NTION
The hitting face of a golf club should be kept clean if it is to S ` function as intended. The grooves on the face of the club7 be it wood or iron, bite into the surface of the ball and impart ~pin to it which i8 necessary if it is to fly accurately. Backspin is especially important when using the mid-to-short irons in terms of getting the ball to "hold" on the greens. A good clean surface, even on the ~ooden clubs, provides the friction again~t the d~mpled exterior of the ball that enables the golfer eO hook or fade lt accurately which he or she could not do if the Rurface were dirty, gras~-stalned and slick. For thls reason, many golfers or their caddies carry a wet towel whlch they use to wipe off the surface of the club after every shot.
Following each round, golfers who store their clubs in the bag room of the so-c~lled "proshop" of a club are accustomed to having their clubs cleaned by one of the people who worX there. This i9 a laborious and time-consuming taRk that calls for each club to be dipped in water, thoroughly scrubbed clean and dried before lt is returned to the bag.
DoiDg thi~ for well over a hun~red sets of club~ on a glven dsy c8n truly become burdensome.
FIELD OF T~E INVENTION

The present invention relPtes to a golf club cleaning mschine~

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D~SCRIPTION OF T~ RELATED ART
While applicants are aware of machines used to clean the golf balls, many of which are in use on drlving ranges, they are unaware of any machine which will clean a whole set of golf clubs including the woods, irons and a putter9 in one operation.
SUMMARY OF THIi INVENTION
It has now been found in accordance with the teaching of the present invention that a machine can be made which will clean an entire ~et of golf clubs in a matter of thirty seconds or 50 through the novel expedient of spraying all expo~ed surface~ of the head and the exposed portion of the shafts beneath the handgrips with powerful high pressure ~ets of so~e sort of cleaning solution a~ the clubs are passed through these ~ets one-at-a-time on a carousel-like compartmented ba~ket which is being slowly rotated. The leaves of an overhanging flexlble baffle keep the water from escaping through the open top of the tank while, at the same time, churning the water thus confined over and around the club head and the portions of the shaft locsted generally below the handgrip 80 as to wet and clean every part thereof. The machine may either be coin-operated or push-button-controlled depending on what services in terms of cleaning the c~ubs is offered by the facility in question~ If deslred, the same unlt can be used to provide a source of high pressure water or other cleaning solution whlch, when redirected through a ho~e and wand on the end of ~he hose, iB conveniently e~ployed to clean and wash down the carts before they are taken back to the cart barn, stored and recharged It iB, therefore, the principal ob~ect of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus for cleaning ~everal golf clubs at one time.

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- 2 -1 Z93i'77 A second obJective is the provision of the devlce of the class described which can be used to clean an entire set of golf club~ in a matter of a m~nute or 80 including the loading and unloading thereof.
Another ob~ect of the invention herein disclosed and claimed i8 to provide a labor-saving machlne that i9 not only faster and far leas time-consumin~ but does a better ~ob ~han can be done by hand with a wet towel ~hich is about all that ls usually used to clean them.
Still another ob~ective of the within-described inventlotl i8 the provision of a machine which has as its primary purpose that of cleaning a set of golf clubs but which, in addition, can ~erve a~ a high-pre3sure source of water or other cleaning solution that can conveniently be used for other purpose~ such as, for example, washing do~n the golf carts prio~ !
to their being stored.
An additional ob~ect of the invention forming the ~ub~ect matter hereof i8 to provide an internally-baffled open-topped vessel containing pre~suri~ed ~ets of a suitable cleaning solution that keep the hand~rips dry while at the same time cleaning the heads and e~posed portions of the shaft Further ob~ect~ are to provide a golf club washing and cleaDing machine that 18 compact, versatile, movable from place-to-place, easy to use, safe, requlres little or no instruction in itH use, and one that iB
eve~ decorative in appearance.

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Jl ~C~3~ 7 1 Broadly stated, the invention is a machine for cleaning 2 golf clubs that have heads, soles, hitting faces, shafts and

3 grips, comprising: an Guter container having a bottom wall, an

4 upstanding sidewall, and an open top; a golf club supporting S carousel rotatably mounted in said outer container; means for 6 rotating said carousel; golf club cleaning nozzle means mounted 7 in said outer container to spray liquid cleaner onto at least the 8 heads of golf clubs supported on said carousel as said carousel 9 rotates; a source of golf club cleaning liquid and means connecting said source to said golf club cleaning means and means 11 for forcing said golf club cleaning liquid out of said golf club 12 cleaning nozzle means; said carousel including golf club 13 supporting means for supporting golf clubs in an upright 14 orientation in said outer container, said golf club supporting means including a plurality of spaced apart partitions and a 16 flexible divider means having a plurality of fingers which are 17 spaced apart by notches with each notch being located between 18 adjacent partitions and which is adapted to receive a gol~ club 19 shaft, said fingers being spaced apart and each being located adjacent to a partition,s aid divider plate being locaked to 21 cover said open top and contact a golf club which is being 22 cleaned so that the golf club shaft rests in a notch with the 23 club head resting on said carousel; liquid containment means 2~ mounted on said outer container, said liquid containment means including a liquid-deflecting baffle support plate mounted on 26 said outer container sidewall to extend radially inward therefrom 27 at a location spaced between said outer container bottom wall and 28 said divider plate, and a plurality of flexible liquid-deflecting 29 baffles each attached to said baffle support plate to be located between said club cleaning nozzle means and the grips of the golf 1~3~'7 1 clubs being cleaned, said liquid-deflecting baffles beiny 2 separated from each other by baffle notches, said baffls notches 3 being smaller than said divider means notches and each of said 4 liquid-deflecting baffles having a size corresponding to the spacing between adjacent pa:rtitions, whereby essentially all of 6 the liquid from said golf club cleaning nozzle means flowing 7 toward the golf club grips is intercepted by said li~uid-8 deflecting baffles before such cleaning liquid contacts the grips 9 of the golf clubs being cleaned, said liquid deflecting baffles being flexible to permit golf clubs to be inserted into said 11 carousel via said outer container open top.
12 Other objects will be in part apparent and in part 13 pointed out specifically in connection with the description of 14 the drawings that follow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ~HE DRAWINGS
16 Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view showing the rotatable 17 club-carrying carousel housed inside the open-topped vessel in 18 which the clubs are cleaned by jets of cleaning fluid issuing 19 from nozzles in the base;
Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view showing the tray-21 forming basket that is suspended beneath the rotatable carousel 22 together with the baffle that overhangs the club heads seated in 23 the basket and redirects the cleaning solution impinginy 24 thereagainst back down over the clubs; and, Fig. 3 is a schematic showing the pump circuit by means 26 of which the cleaniny fluid is delivered to the nozzles.

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DESCRIPTION OF T~IE PREFER~ED ~mODIF~TS
Referring next to the drawings for a detailed description of the present invention and, initlally, to Flgs. l and 2 for this purpose, reference numeral lO has been selected to broadly deslgnate the golf club cleaning machine of the present inventlon in which the ~olf clubs 12 are held in sn upright position within a plurallty of indlvidual compartments 14 arranged in angularly-spaced relation around the axi~ of rotation oE a club-carrying carousel that ha~ been indicated in a general way by reference numeral 16. This carousel 16 i9 housed inside an open-topped vessel deflned by 8 bottom wall 18, upstanding 0idewalls ~0 cooperating to form a closure, and a lid 22 covering the latter. Lid 22 has an opening 24 therein (Fig. 2~ and i8 preferably hingedly attached to the side~alls so that it can be raised up out of the way for the purpose of removing the carousel and otherwise servicing the machine. It need not, however, be raisPd to access the carousPl for the purpose ~f in~ertiog the dirty clubs and removing them once they are clean since opening 24 18 quite large.
In the particular for~ illu~trated, the carousel ls motor driven by a slow-speed gear motor 26 mounted in the base of the unit above the bottom wall 18 by mean~ of motor-mounting bracket 28. The motor i9 sized to rotate the carousel slo~ly, say between approximately 2 and 10 rpm.
Coupling 30 drivingly connecta the motor shaft 32 with the driveshaft 34 of the carousel. Shaft 34 is Journalled for rotation ln suitable sha~t bearings 36B and 36T which are~ in turn, mounted upon a protective hou~ing that has been generally indicated by reference numeral 38 and which keep~
the cleanlng solution away from the motor. Acceqs to the motor 26 for the purpose of ~ervicing same is gained through louvered coverplatP 40 closing

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1~3~ 7 the underQide of protective housing 38. Bottom wall 18 i~ also provlded with a drain 42 outside houslng 38 through which the cleaning fluid collected ~n the bottom of the vessel is drained.
The carousel 16 has a baseplate 44 in its bottom wall 46 that sits atop the upper end of drive ~haft 34. A tubular shaft houslng 48 extends upwardly from thi~ baseplate to a ~imllar plate 50 located at the upper end of the carousel. Resting on top of plate 50 is a marginally-toothed divider 52 which is preferably made of rubber or ~ome ~imilar material which will not mar the handgrips 54 on the upper end~ of the club shafts 56. A8 seen in Fig. 2, divider 52 has the notches 58 therein aligned wlth the compartments i4 of the carousel. This alignment iY
maintained by means of a pin 60 proJecting from plate 50 ~hich enters an alignment aperture 62 in the divider. The carousel 16 1~ operatively attached to drive shaft 34 for rotational movement by means of cap 64 and rod 66, the threaded lower end 68 of which screws into the threaded socket 70 in the top of shaft 34. Spaced apertures 72 (only one of which is shown) in the top of the cap receive the tines of a apanner wrench (not shown) which iY used to draw the cap down snug against the divlder which, in turn, forces baseplate 44 at the lower end of the carous~l tlghtly &gainst Yocket 70 of Yhaft 34 thereby completing the driving connection between the carousel and its drive motor 26.
CarouYel 16, iD the particular form shown, comprises a polygonal generally frusto-pyramidal-shaped hub 74 from the intersections between the ad~acent faces 76 of which pro~ect radially-extending partitions 78. These hub faces and partitions cooperate with one another to define the compartment~ 14 that receive and retaln the uDcovered portions of the golf club shafts 56 that lie between the heads 80 and the Landgrips 54. The hub ~Z93~'7 may, of course, be f~ustoconical rather than pyramidal or, for that matter, even cylindrical although a tapered configuration of some type i8 preferred ln that it more nearly matches the inclination of the club shafts 56 and, therefore, allows the heads 8~ to lie some~hat flatter againat the bottom 82 of the basket 84.
In order to properly clean the club heads which are the part of tbe club that gets the dirtiest, it i9 desirable that the cleaning solution be able to reach every part thereof, but especially the hitting ace 86, the grooves 88 therein which pick up the dirt and grass, aud tha sole 90. It 0 i8 for this reason that an open basket 84 i~ suspended from the bottom wall 46 of the carousel. It comprises a frustoconical wall 92 (Pig. 1), a bottom wall 94 and an upstanding rim 96, all of whicb cooperate to define an annular tray indicated in a general way by reference numaral 98 for the reception of the club heads 80, the shafes 56 of which are confined ~ithin their indiv~dual compartments 14 as shown.
Referring to Fig. 1, it can be seen that the actual cleanlng of the clubs is accomplished by spraying them with a high pressure ~et of cleanlng solution directed against them by one or more noz~les 100 located in the bottom of the vessel housing the carousel as they circle past ~0 one-at-a-time. In ~he particular form illustrated, four such no~zles are sho~n, two below the tray (lOOB) and two above (lOOT). Thoae above the tray are inclined down against the upwardly-inclined grooved hitting surfaces ~8 of the clubs, whereas, the two underneath are primarily d~rected against the soles 90 of the club heads 80, these being the two areas that contact the turf and the ball and, for this reason, get the dirtiest. On the other hand, the uncovered portions of the shaft~ along with the rear and top surfaces of the club head aeldom need as much __. ~ _ __.____ .. , ..... . .. .... .. ... . , . ... .. . ....... ~ _ .. . .. . . .. . .

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1;~93~ 7 cleaning if, in fact, any at all. These noz~les are, preferably, lndividually ad~ustable so that the user can optimize their performance.
Returning once again to Figs. 1 and 2, where yet another significant feature is shown that has yet to be describled, namaly, baffle-~upport S plate lOl and baffle 102. Encircling the carousel at a level well beneath the lid 22 but above the exposed area of the basket 84 will be ~ound this support plate together with the baffle, the latter being flexible and extending inwardly to a pos~tion closely ad~acent the ~haft-recelving compartments 14. Support plate 101 includes a large diameter openlng 103 si~ed to pass the basket tray when the carousel i8 removed for servlce.
In the particular form shown, this baffle ls made of rubber and it includes a plurality of angularly-spaced inwardly-extending radial slots 104 that divide it into iDdividual flaps 106 that hang down and define a concave undersurfacç 108 (~ig. 1) that receives the cleaning qolutlon dlrected upwardly thereagainst primarily by nozzles lOOB and redirec~s ~ame away from the opening 24 in the lid and back down against the uncovered areas of the club shafts and other areas of the club heads whlch the Jets issuing from the nozzles do not impinge against dlrectly.
The resultant "churning" of the cleaning solution i8 effective to remove any soil that may have gotten on the shafts, tops and rear faces of the club heads. Moreover, and most important, this baffle is effective to keep the cleaning fluid away from the handgrips which are located above the latter and which may even be msde of leather and, for this aDd other reasonR, ~hould not be wetted. The notches 104 in the baffle are, preferably, out of register wlth the notches 58 in the divider 80 that in the rare instance where any fluld escapes past the baffle, it ca~not leave the machine through the opening in the lid. The flaps 106 of the baffle _ _ _ _ _ . . . _ .. _ _ . _ . _ . , . _ . _ . . .. .. .. . . .. _ _ . _ .. . .. _ . . ... . . . . . . .

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flex and deflect to the extent necessary to permlt the club head~ to elther be inserted into the machine with the lid closed or removed therefrom.
Finally, referring to Fig. 3, the more or ]Less coDventional pump system for delivering the cleaning solution to the nozzles wlll be described. Inlet 110 is connectable to a source of cleaning solutlon such as water which is delivered to a pres~ure regulator 112. The source of cleanlng solution may well be a hgdrant or, alternatively, a sump (not shown) containing a self-contaiDed source of some apecial cleaning solvent that can be recirculated and reused. The fluld leaving the pressure regulator passes through a solenoid valve 114 which ha~ as its primary purpose that of shutting off fluid from reaching the rest of the system when the unit i8 not being operated. With solenoid 114 actuated to open position, the iluid passes through filter 116 a~d on into pump 118.
Applicants have found that a pump capable of delivering a little over two gpm of solution at a pressure of about 500 psi is entirely adequate to accomplish the most difficult of cleaning ~obs yet without da~aging the finish on wooden club heads. While not illustrated, nppllcants have found it convenient and useful to provide the system with a branch connectioD by mean3 of which the cleaning solution can be taken off through a hose and delivered through a hand-held wand for the purpose of cleaning golf carts and the like. If this is done~ higher pressures on the order of 800 psl can be used without damaging the equipment and, therefore, a higher pressure pump should be 3ubstltuted.
Downstream of the pump 118 is a so-called "unloader valve" 120 which is nothlng more than ~ pressure-responsive valve oper~tive to actuate at a predetermined pressurle indicated by gage 122 80 as tn shunt the eleaning fluid away from the nozzles 100 where it could damage the finieh on wooden ~i i _ g _ I

~3~7 club heads and by-pass lt back to the inlet of the pump through by-pass connection 124. If one or more of the nozzles clogs up, an exce~sl~e pressure condition could, conceivably, arise ln which thiY feature would come into play. Without it, of course, a hose could burst o~, as previously noted, ~ome damage to a club could occur.
The cleaning fluid leaving the pump under falrly high pressure ls delivered directly to the manlfold 126 which divides the flow and delivers it to lines 130 which feed the noz~les 100. If, on the other hand, the inlet i8 connected to a water line and the user decide~ to introduce s4ap or some detergent, a solenoid valve 134 can be energized to close and redirect the flow through by-pass 136 and soap dispensar 138 downstream of the pump before delivering it to the manifold 126.
Suitable circuitry (not shown) for controlling the various valves, the pump and carousel drive motor is, of course, used but it is conventional and forms no part of the present invention. Applicant~
envision a coin-operated machine for use at drivi~g ranges, public golE
courses and the like. It is also a ~imple matter to incorporate into the control circuit an automatic timer which shuts off the 3ystem ater a predetermined time interval. It ha~ been found that 30 seconds is adequate to clean all but the dlrtiest of clubs with twice this time beiDg ~ufficient to handle almost anything that comes along~ A timer, therefore, that can be set from 0 to approximately 80 seconds i~ ideal.

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Claims (9)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A machine for cleaning golf clubs that have heads, soles, hitting faces, shafts and grips, comprising:
an outer container having a bottom wall, an upstanding sidewall, and an open top;
a golf club supporting carousel rotatably mounted in said outer container;
means for rotating said carousel;
golf club cleaning nozzle means mounted in said outer container to spray liquid cleaner onto at least the heads of golf clubs supported on said carousel as said carousel rotates;
a source of gold club cleaning liquid and means connecting said source to said golf club cleaning nozzle means and means for forcing said golf club cleaning liquid out of said golf club cleaning nozzle means;
said carousel including golf club supporting means for supporting golf clubs in an upright orientation in said outer container, said golf club supporting means including a plurality of spaced apart partitions and a flexible divider plate having a plurality of fingers which are spaced apart by notches with each notch being located between adjacent partitions and which is adapted to receive a golf club shaft, said fingers being spaced apart and each being located adjacent to a partition, said divider plate being located to cover said open top and contact a golf club which is being cleaned so that the golf club shaft rests in a notch with the club head resting on said carousel;

a liquid containment means mounted on said outer container, said liquid containment means including a liquid-deflecting baffle support plate mounted on said outer container sidewall to extend radially inward therefrom at a location spaced between said outer container bottom wall and said divider plate, and a plurality of flexible liquid-deflecting baffles each attached to said baffle support plate to be located between said club cleaning nozzle means and the grips of the golf clubs being cleaned, said liquid-deflecting baffles being separated from each other by baffle notches, said baffle notches being smaller than said divider means notches and each of said liquid-deflecting baffles having a size corresponding to the spacing between adjacent partitions, whereby essentially all of the liquid from said golf club cleaning nozzle means flowing toward the golf club grips is intercepted by said liquid-deflecting baffles before such cleaning liquid contacts the grips of the golf clubs being cleaned, said liquid deflecting baffles being flexible to permit golf clubs to be inserted into said carousel via said outer container open top.

2. The golf club cleaning machine as set forth in claim 1 in which:
said golf club cleaning nozzle means is positioned to spray liquid cleaner against the hitting face of each of the clubs and further includes a second nozzle means located beneath the carousel in a position to spray cleaning liquid against the soles of the golf clubs on said carousel.

3. The golf club cleaning machine as set forth in claim 1 in which:
that portion of the carousel that receives the heads of the clubs comprising an open-topped angular tray-like basket.

4. The golf club cleaning machine as set forth in claim 1 which further includes:
a portion of the club-carrying carousel which is adapted to carry the shafts of the golf clubs and which is generally frustoconical.

5. The golf club cleaning machine as set forth in claim 1 in which:
the liquid-deflecting baffle is positioned to project inwardly to points adjacent uncovered portions of the club shafts thereby redirecting the cleaning fluid away from the portions thereabove covered by a hand-grip.

6. The machine defined in claim 1 wherein said baffles have inner edges and said divider fingers have outer edges with said baffle inner edges being located radially between said nozzle means and said divider finger outer edges.

7. The machine defined in claim 1 wherein said notches are all V-shaped.

8. A machine for cleaning golf clubs that have heads, soles, hitting faces, shafts and grips, comprising:
an outer container having a bottom wall, an upstanding sidewall, and an open top;
a golf club supporting carousel rotatably mounted in said outer container;
means for rotating said carousel;
golf club cleaning nozzle means mounted in said outer container to spray liquid cleaner onto at least the heads of golf clubs supported on said carousel as said carousel rotates;
a source of golf club cleaning liquid and means connecting said source to said golf club cleaning nozzle means and means for forcing said golf club cleaning liquid out of said golf club cleaning nozzle means;
said carousel including golf club supporting means for supporting golf clubs in an upright orientation in said outer container, said golf club supporting means including a divider plate located to cover said open top and contact the golf clubs which are being cleaned so that golf club shafts rest against the divider means and the club head rests on said carousel;
a liquid containment means mounted on said outer container, said liquid containment means including a liquid-deflecting baffle support plate mounted on said outer container sidewall to extend radially inward there from at a location spaced between said outer container bottom wall and said divider plate, and a plurality of flexible liquid-deflecting baffles each attached to said baffle support plate to be located between said club cleaning nozzle means and the golf club grips so that essentially all of the liquid from said golf club cleaning nozzle means flowing toward that golf club grips is intercepted by said liquid-deflecting baffles before such cleaning liquid contacts the grips of the golf clubs being cleaned, said liquid deflecting baffles being flexible to permit golf clubs to be inserted into said carousel via said outer container open top.

9. The machine defined in claim 8 wherein each of said liquid-deflecting flexible baffles is arcuate and positioned to curve downwardly towards the outer container bottom wall so that any liquid from said golf club cleaning nozzle means which is intercepted by said baffles is returned toward said outer container bottom wall.