GB2285864A - Golf trolley odometer - Google Patents

Abstract

An odometer for a golf trolley has a wheel 28 resiliently engageable with the periphery of a trolley wheel and a resettable counter 30 to indicate distance travelled. The odometer is releasably attached to a frame member of the trolley by a clamp assembly having sliding jaws 86, 88 and allowing adjustment of the position of the odometer, connected to a shaft 22, in directions A, C and D. <IMAGE>

Description

GOLF TROLLEY ACCESSORY Field of the Invention The present invention relates to golf trolley accessories, in particular to a golf trolley comprising a frame and at least one wheel, to which frame is releasably secured an odometer.

Backaround to the Invention Golf trollies have become a progressively more popular means for transporting golf clubs around a golf course. In particular, regular players tend to use them because of the convenience and comfort they afford, and others because they tend to do less damage to a golf course.

When playing a round of golf, particularly at a course with which the golfer is unfamiliar, it is very useful for the golfer to have an accurate indication of the distance his/her ball has covered so that he/she can calculate the remaining distance to the hole, or if information on the hole lengths is not available so that he/she can produce a yardage map of the course.

Currently distances on a golf course are usually determined by a golfer simply pacing out the number of yards (the conventional units to measure distances on a golf course) to the ball which is very inaccurate and distracting. There is available a device for determining the remaining distance to the hole which relies on measuring the height of the pin in the hole and, from that, by triangulation, determining the distance to the hole. This method relies on the pins being of uniform height and wholly visible, neither of which can be guaranteed.

summary of the Invention In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a golf trolley comprising a frame and at least one wheel, to which frame is releasably secured an odometer, the odometer comprising means to indicate the distance travelled by the trolley, which distance is determined by direct measurement from the movement of the perimeter of the at least one trolley wheel. Such a combination provides a convenient and accurate means for determining distances covered on a golf course by the trolley which can, in effect, be used to determine the distance of shots, distance to the hole, to produce yardage maps etc.Because the distance is determined by direct measurement from the movement of the perimeter of the at least one trolley wheel, the odometer can be used on a variety of golf trollies since no adaptation or calibration of the odometer is required for different sized trollies and/or wheels.

It is necessary for the odometer to be releasably secured to the golf trolley because, in competition play, it is not permissible for distance measuring devices to be used. Similarly, it may be desirable, when playing, say, a new opponent for it to be possible to remove the odometer.

Conveniently, the means to indicate the distance travelled by the trolley comprises visual indicia, for instance a mechanical counter of the type found in tape recorders and audio cassette players. Such indicia are easy to read and relatively easy to adapt for the present invention. Their availability helps keep down production costs.

Preferably the indicating means can be reset by the user to a start point. For instance, if the mechanical counter is used, as described above, then the visual indicating means can be reset to zero.

Suitably, the direct measurement of distance from the perimeter of the wheel is carried out by a pick-up wheel forming part of the odometer. Preferably the pick-up wheel is biased towards the trolley wheel to ensure constant contact between the two.

Preferably, the odometer is substantially within a weatherproof casing. of course, at least the pick-up wheel and reset button (if present) can be outside the casing for operation and accessability respectively, but the odometer as a whole will still be substantially within the casing. In this instance, "weatherproof" does not require the casing to be waterproof. Instead, "weatherproof" requires the casing to be resistant to the effects of weather, in particular rain.

Preferably, the means for releasably securing the odometer to the frame comprises a bracket of the type described below.

Also provided by the present invention is an odometer capable of being mounted on a golf trolley, which golf trolley comprises a frame and at least one wheel, the odometer comprising means to indicate the distance travelled by the trolley, which means determines the distance by direct measurement from the movement of the perimeter of the at least one trolley wheel and in which means are provided to releasably secure the odometer to a golf trolley frame.

The odometer may be adapted as set out above.

Further provided by the present invention is a bracket for releasably securing an odometer to a golf trolley, the bracket comprising a linear vice coupled to a clamping means whereby the linear vice can rotate with respect to the clamping means to provide at least four degrees of freedom.

Such a bracket is particularly adaptable for a variety of applications and provides particular advantages when used in accordance with the other aspects of the present invention described above.

Suitably the linear vice comprises one stationary jaw, one linearly moveable jaw and a bed between the two jaws. For maximum adaptability, the jaws are preferably generally "V"-shaped. Suitably the linear movement of the vice is achieved by a thumbscrew.

The clamp may comprise two substantially similar opposing discs comprising asymmetric slots in their bearing faces and means to compress the two discs together. The compression means may comprise a wing nut.

Preferably the four degrees of freedom comprise two linear degrees of freedom and two rotational degrees of freedom.

Brief Description of the Drawings The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings that follow; in which: Figure 1 is a perspective side view of a golf trolley on the frame of which is mounted an odometer.

Figure 2 is an enlarged end view of the odometer mounted on the golf trolley frame as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a further enlarged front, partly cut away, view of the odometer shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a side view of the odometer shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the odometer shown in Figures 3 and 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged front view of a bracket used to mount the odometer shown in the previous Figures to the golf trolley shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 7 is a top view of the bracket shown in Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a plan view of one of the discs of the bracket shown in Figures 6 and 7.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the bracket shown in Figures 6 to 8, showing the possible directions for movement of the bracket.

Figure 10 is an enlarged plan view of a pinion used in an alternative gearing arrangement for the present invention.

Figure 11 is a front view of the pinion shown in Figure 10.

Figure 12 is an enlarged plan view of a crown wheel used in conjunction with the pinion shown in Figures 10 and 11.

Figure 13 is a front view of the crown wheel shown in Figure 12.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings that follow there is shown a golf trolley 2 comprising a metallic tubular frame 4 and two ground engaging wheels 6, 8 fixed to legs 10, 12 of the frame 4. The golf trolley 2 carries a golfing bag 14 in which are held golf clubs 16. The golf trolley 2 and bag 14 may be any of those known in the art.

Mounted on leg 10 by bracket 18 is an odometer 20.

The odometer 20 is connected to the bracket 18 by an arm 22 which comprises a bent rod.

Referring now to Figures 3 to 5 of the drawings that follow, the odometer 20 comprises a two-part plastic weatherproof casing 24 from which projects a reset button 26 and a rubber tyred pick-up wheel 28 which engages the wheel 6 of the golf trolley 2. The odometer 20 will now be described in more detail.

Within the casing 24 is a standard and readily available mechanical counter 30 found, for instance, in tape recorders and audio cassette players. The counter 30 comprises four ten-digit (decimal) wheels 32-38 (the numbers on the wheels are not shown for clarity) on an axle 40. Also on the axle 40 is a counter gear 42 which engages a worm gear 44. The slower moving three (32, 34 and 36) of the four wheels 32-38 are visible through a transparent viewing window (not shown) in the casing 24.

Referring in particular to Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings that follow, it can be seen that the worm gear 44 is driven by a pinion 46 which, in turn, is driven by crown wheel 48 mounted concentrically on axle 50 with pick-up wheel 28. The crown wheel 48 is driven directly by the pick-up wheel 28. The crown wheel 48 can be an integral part of the pick-up wheel 28, for instance the pick-up wheel 28, crown wheel 49 and axle 50 could be a single piece plastic moulding.

Projecting into the odometer casing 24 is the connecting arm 22 which is secured in place by a SELOK (trade mark) pin 52. In this case the arm 22 comprises a metal rod approximately 3/16" (0.48 cm) in diameter and about 9" (22.9 cm) long with two bends in non-parallel planes. The arm 22 is surface coated in either paint, chrome or plastic for weather protection. The bends in the arm 22 allow for the fact that in a folding golf trolley design the clamping point on sloping wheel struts of the frame 4 will be "behind" the centre of the trolley wheel 6 or 8 (from the normal direction of travel of the wheel) and the clamp point can then also be below the highest point of the wheel. The connecting arm 22 projects into a generally U-shaped elongate housing 54 within the casing 24.The axle 50 on which is mounted the pick-up wheel 28 is mounted between the depending arms 56, 58 of the housing 54 while the counter 30 is mounted on the base 60 of the housing 54, the base 60 connecting the arms 56, 58. A suitable hole (not shown) is provided within the base 60 through which projects rod 62 which connects the worm gear 44 to the pinion 46.

On the connecting arm 22 is located a tension sprirg 63 which biases the odometer 20, and hence the pick-up wheel 28, towards the wheel 10.

The other end of the connecting arm 22 (not shown in Figures 3 - 5), is connected to bracket 18 which will now be described, in more detail, in relation to Figures 6 9 of the drawings that follow.

The bracket 18 comprises a connecting rod clamping part 70 and a golf trolley frame clamping part 72.

The connecting rod clamping part 70 comprises two substantially similar slotted discs 74, 76 which are in an opposed face-to-face relationship in contact with each other. One of the discs is shown in Figure 8 and can be seen to comprise a central hole 78 and an asymmetric substantially semi-circular slot 80. The discs 74, 76 are mounted on a wide based wing nut 82. Projecting through the wing nut and the two discs is a bolt 84 the head (not shown) of which engages the golf frame clamping part 72 of the bracket 18.

Clamping part 72 comprises a thumb screw vice having one stationary jaw 86 and one longitudinally moveable jaw 88 driven on a bed 91 by thumb screw 90. Both jaws 86, 88 are in a truncated "V"-shape. The jaws 86, 88 may be alloy or plastic and are rubber surfaced in the case of the alloy to enhance the grip and to prevent scratching of the golf trolley frame 4.

As shown in the Figures 1 and 2, pick-up wheel 28 is in contact with, and biased towards, the wheel 6 of the trolley 2. Thus, the pick-up wheel 28 is driven by the wheel 6 of the golf trolley 2 as the golf trolley 2 is moved along the ground.

The gearing (counter gear 42, worm gear 44, pinion 46 and crown wheel 48) is so arranged in relation to the diameter of the pick-up wheel 28 that sixteen turns of the pick-up wheel 28 indicates one yard (numeral "1") on the second wheel 36 of the counter 30. For this reason, the fourth counter wheel 38 is not visible through the transparent window (not shown) since it only indicates fractions of yards which are not of use to golfers in this context. In this particular case, the circumference of the pick-up wheel 28 is therefore set at 4.5" (11.4 cm) for imperial measurement of distance, ie yards. For metric measurement (metres) a slight change in diameter of the pick-up wheel 28 is necessary as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

By way of example, for the counter 30 to indicate yards on the second wheel 36, sixteen turns of the pick-up wheel 28 are required. The pinion 46 (replacing the rubber band driven pulley wheel that is normally associated with these types of counter) provides with the crown wheel 48 a 2:1 increase ratio which effectively means that the wheel 38 has to revolve eight times in order for the second digit wheel 36 to be advanced by one digit. That is how the circumference of the pick-up wheel 28 is determined at 4.5" (11.4 cm).

The counter reset button 26 operates in the same way as for other counter applications. However, the head of the button 26 can be customised, for instance a right angled button could be utilised to combat rain penetration of the unit.

In order to releasably secure the odometer 20 to the bracket 18, the connecting arm 22 is inserted into the cooperating slot 92 formed by the slots 80 in discs 74, 76.

Tightening of the wing nut 82 engages the connecting rod clamp part 70 with the connecting arm 72. Slight loosening of the wing nut 82 enables the clamp to be rotated about the axis of the connecting arm 22 in direction A as shown in Figure 9. Similarly, the bracket 18 can be moved along the length of the connecting arm 22 in direction B.

The frame clamping part 72 of the bracket 18 enables the bracket to be releasably secured to the golf trolley frame 4 and, in a similar way, moved along (direction C) and around (direction D) the golf trolley frame 4. The truncated "V"-shaped jaws 86, 88 enable the bracket 18 to be releasably secured to frames 4 of varying crosssections, such as round or square section struts.

By moving the bracket 18 on the golf trolley frame 4 and by manipulating the bent connecting arm 22 it is possible to so orient the odometer 20 that the pick-up wheel 28 bears against the outer perimeter of a trolley wheel 6 or 8. Once correctly set, the bracket 18 can be left on the golf trolley frame 4 if desired. The odometer 20 can then be removed from the bracket 18 by opening the connecting rod clamping part 70 sufficiently for the connecting arm 22 to be withdrawn (ie in direction B).

In an alternative embodiment (not illustrated) to that described above, the arm 22 can be located in the odometer 20 using a keyed plug arrangement instead of the circlips referred to above. In the keyed plug embodiment, a keyed receiving tube in the odometer serves as an axis for the odometer to rotate under the pressure from the torsion spring, in a substantially similar way as that described above. In this case, the end of the arm would have a flat section at its end distant from the bracket to key into a receiving flat in the tube interior in the odometer. Positive location would be achieved by the use of a sprung ball bearing located in the casing adjacent to the tube, the ball bearing would be received by an indentation in the connecting arm.

Referring now to Figures 10-13 of the drawings that follow, there is shown an alternative gearing arrangement which enables a three digit counter to be used, ie it is not necessary to use a four digit counter with the fastest moving wheel hidden.

As explained above, the first digit of a counter is advanced when the shaft driving the worm gear has rotated 1.6 times (due to the 16:1 ratio of the worm gear divided by the ten digits on the wheel). As the pick-up wheel 28 of the odometer 20 rotates eight times per yard, this would normally require a further 5:1 reduction mechanism to make one digit on the first wheel equal one yard.

Instead of this extra gearing, however, it is possible to use the pinion 100 and crown wheel 102 shown in Figures 10 - 13. In this embodiment, four-fifths of the teeth of the crown wheel 102 have been, in effect, removed when compared to the crown wheel 48 described above and thus, instead of the crown wheel 102 continually turning the pinion 100, it would nudge it around one-fifth of a turn per crown wheel revolution. Thus, eight turns of the crown wheel 102 equal 1.6 turns of the pinion 100 as desired. Owing to the original "step-up" nature of the crown pinion only two teeth are required to move the pinion the one-fifth revolution required.

Thus, it can be seen that the crown wheel comprises two teeth 104. The pinion 100 has ten teeth 106 coupled to which gearing there is a pentagonal sided member 108.

The pinion 100 and pentagonal member 108 are mounted on the worm drive shaft 110. Bearing against the faces of the pentagonal member 108 is a light phosphor bronze or plastic lid spring 110 which ensures that the pinion wheel does not overshoot when advanced by the crown 102.

Another alternative, not shown in the drawings, would be for the pinion wheel to be replaced by a five pointed star wheel which could be nudged or stepped around by a flange on the side of the pick-up wheel. The pentagonal member would also be used on the pinion in the same way as described above. Although this may be easier and cheaper to manufacture, it does have the drawback that the first yard indicated could only be accurate to +/-4.5" (11.4 cm) which is the circumference of the pick-up wheel, as the user could not be certain where the "nudging" flange on the crown wheel would be when the counter is reset.

However, for golfing applications, 4.5" (11.4 cm) is not a serious deviation. Alternatively, an indicating mark could be placed on the visible part of the pick-up wheel which should be at the bottom when a reset is made to ensure accuracy if the extra cost incurred by doing so is acceptable.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims (28)

1. A golf trolley comprising a frame and at least one wheel, to which frame is releasably secured an odometer, the odometer comprising means to indicate the distance travelled by the trolley, which distance is determined by direct measurement from the movement of the perimeter of the at least one trolley wheel.

2. A golf trolley accord to Claim 1, in which the means to indicate the distance travelled by the trolley comprises visual indicia.

3. A golf trolley according to Claim 2, in which the indicating means comprises a mechanical counter and the visual indicating means can be reset to zero.

4. A golf trolley according to any preceding Claim, in which the means to indicate the distance travelled can be reset by the user to start point.

5. A golf trolley according to any preceding Claim, in which the direct measurement of distance from the perimeter of the wheel is carried out by a pick-up wheel forming part of the odometer.

6. A golf trolley according to Claim 5, in which the pick-up wheel is biased towards the trolley wheel to ensure substantially constant contact between the two.

7. A golf trolley according to any preceding Claim, in which the odometer is substantially within a weatherproof casing.

8. A golf trolley according to any preceding Claim, in which the means for releasably securing the odometer to the frame comprises a bracket.

9. An odometer capable of being mounted on a golf trolley, which golf trolley comprises a frame and at least one wheel, the odometer comprising means to indicate the distance travelled by the trolley, which means determines the distance by direct measurement from the movement of the perimeter of the at least one trolley wheel and in which means are provided to releasably secure the odometer to a golf trolley frame.

10. An odometer according to Claim 9, in which the means to indicate the distance travelled by the trolley comprises visual indicia.

11. An odometer according to Claim 10, in which a mechanical counter is used and the visual indicating means can be reset to zero.

12. An odometer according to any one of Claims 9 to 11, in which the means to indicate the distance travelled can be reset by the user to a start point.

13. An odometer according to any one of Claims 9 to 12, in which the direct measurement of distance from the perimeter of the wheel is carried out by a pick-up wheel forming part of the odometer.

14. An odometer according to Claim 13, in which the pickup wheel is biased towards the trolley wheel to ensure substantially constant contact between the two.

15. An odometer according to any one of Claims 9 to 14, in which the odometer is substantially within a weatherproof casing.

16. An odometer according to any one of Claims 9 to 15, in which the means for releasably securing the odometer to the frame comprises a bracket.

17. A bracket for releasably securing an odometer to a golf trolley, the bracket comprising a linear vice coupled to a clamping means whereby the linear vice can rotate with respect to the clamping means to provide at least four degrees of freedom.

18. A bracket according to Claim 17, in which the linear vice comprises one stationary jaw, one linearly moveable jaw and a bed between the two jaws.

19. A bracket according to Claim 18, in which the jaws are generally "V"-shaped.

20. A bracket according to any one of Claims 17 to 19, in which the linear movement of the vice is achieved by a thumbscrew.

21. A bracket according to any one of Claims 17 to 20, in which the clamping means comprises two substantially similar opposing discs comprising asymmetric slots in their bearing faces and means to compress the two discs together.

22. A bracket according to Claim 21, in which the compression means comprises a wing nut.

23. A bracket according to any of Claims 17 to 22, in which the four degrees of freedom comprise two linear degrees of freedom and two rotational degrees of freedom.

24. A golf trolley according to Claim 8, in which the bracket is according to any one of Claims 17 to 23.

25. An odometer according to Claim 16, in which the bracket is according to any one of Claims 17 to 23.

26. A golf trolley substantially as described herein, with reference to and as shown in the accompanying figures, in any combination.

27. An odometer substantially as described herein, with reference to and as shown in the accompanying figures, in any combination.

28. A bracket substantially as described herein, with reference to and as shown in figures 6 to 9 of the accompanying drawings, in any combination.