NZ199407A - Collapsing golf trundler:handle and handle extension actuate linkages - Google Patents

Description

1 99407 hiority Oate(s): ..

Complete Specification Filed: Class: >.

* Wf "OCTA^S^" Publication Date: .... .tr.

P.O. Journal. No: Patents Form No.5 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION "GOLF CART" v-*" I /"WE~ GORAN ROSEN of Radagatan 5, S-531 Lidkoping, Sweden, of Swedish nationality, hereby declare the invention, for which I/we- pray that a patent may be granted to me/«s-> , and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- -l- -ioUood ixj pvgi lfl (followed by page I A.) /<m° i GOLF CART Background of the invention: The present invention refers to a two-wheeled golf cart provided with a pull rod and a container which is subdivided into a plurality of compartments for receiving golf clubs, appurtenances etc and for housing the wheel undercarriage and the wheels thereof in their inactive retracted position, the wheel undercarriage on one hand being rigidly attached to the container and provided with legs, each of which is provided with one of said wheels, said legs being able to be laterally moved apart after the undercarriage has been folded out of said container to its actual position and being able to be pulled together before the wheel undercarriage is folded with the container to its inactive position.

Golf carts are known in different embodiments. They can be classified in two main groups; such which are outbalanced whereby the handle part of the pull rod is unloaded, and such which are more or less directly fixed to the club bag and therefore will load the pull handle considerably. The first type incorporates such golf carts which for achieving a better stability has a wheel undercarriage with legs that can be folded out laterally, which is very bulky also after the folding together, whereas under the second type fall carts with wheels that are detachable or retractable into the container. Beside the fact that these golf carts are not outbalanced, the mounting and dismounting of a convertible bag and cart is a complicated matter, which can be accomplished some times but not positively every time.

Summary of the invention The purpose of the invention is to provide a golf cart which is free from the above drawbacks and which in itself combines the advantages of the two abovementioned types of carts, i.e. a wheel undercarriage the legs of which can be widely moved apart upon which the container is arranged to be outbalanced, whereby the wheel undercarriage by a simple hand grip can be | °t«? 4- o 7 retracted into and folded out of the container to be immediately ready for use. This task is achieved in that it also comprises a first linkage system which is arranged, after releasing a latch to fold out the wheel undercarriage and the pull rod from the container under the action of a spring and a second linkage system which, when the longer arm of the pull rod is swung upwards or downwards from the shorter arm is actuated in such a manner that the legs of the wheel undercarriage are spread out to their active position or pulled together respectively.

Brief description of the drawings Figure 1 shows a side view of a golf cart according to the invention in inactive position, i,e. with its wheel undercarriage retracted into the container.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section along line II - II in figure 1 whereby the wheel undercarriage is also shown in dash-and-dot lines in folded-out position.

Figure 3 shows a view similar to figure 1 but with the wheel undercarriage in folded-out and spread apart position according to figure 3.

Figure 4 is a side view partly in section of the golf cart in operative transport position.

Figure 5 is a side view corresponding to figure 1 and showing a modified embodiment of a golf cart according to the invention.

Figure 6 shows a schematical section through the golf cart according to figure 5, with the wheels shown in their retracted, inactive position in continuous lines and in an intermediate position during its folding out of JJtie container 19 940 7 in phantom.

Figure 7 is a view corresponding to figure 5 showing the wheel undercarriage in its active, folded-out position.

Figure 8 is a side view partly in section of the golf cart with the wheel undercarriage in its active, entirely folded out position.

Figure 9 shows in a side view the golf cart according to the invention in transport position with the wheel undercarriage in entirely folded-out position, and showing the pull handle in different index positions and with a possible umbrella mounted thereto, and Figure 10 shows in a partial section a portion of the connection between the pull rod and its pull handle.

Description of the embodiments The golf cart according to the invention and shown in figures 1-4 comprises a container 11, which is subdivided into a plurality of compartments, of which compartment 12 is intended for the wheel undercarriage and its operating mechanism, compartment 13 (figure; 1) for the golf clubs and compartment 14 (figure 2) for appurtenances of different types. |! The wheel undercarriage 15 shown in the compartment 12 in figure 1, consists of a frame 17, to which is articulatedly connected two legs 18 and 19 each one carrying a wheel 20.

Each separate leg consists of a tie rod arrangement 18a, 18b and 19a, 19b resp. each of which is connected to the associated wheel thus that the wheels are always kept parallel to each other.

A pull rod 21 is supported on a shaft 16, which pull rod is arranged to extend along the upper part of the wheel undercarriage compartment and designed as a two-armed lever, 3 4 I m ol the longer arm 22 of which being designed with a handle 23 at its free . end, whereas its shorter arm 24 is provided with a pivot 25, to which is connected a rod 26 which can be subjected to traction and thrust. The rod 26 acts upon a first linkage 27 consisting of two articulated arms 28 and 29. One end of arm 28 is supported in a bracket 30 at a fixed wall portion 31 of the container, whereas the opposite end of the articulated arm 28 is pivotally connected to the second articulated arm 29, the opposite end of which is pivotably supported in the frame 17 of the wheel undercarriage. The articulated arm 29 is provided with a slidably mounted bush 32, which is displaceable in a slit 33 or the like in the articulated arm 29 and through which bush the above-mentioned rod 26 is freely displaceable. The other end of the rod 26 is articulatedly connected to a second linkage system 34, which incorporates the articulated arms 35 and 36. The pivotable connecting point 37 for the rod 26 is also a common pivot for the articulated arms 35 and 36 which are each one pivotably connected at their opposite ends to a leg 18 and 19 resp.

The first linkage system 27 is acted upon by a pressure spring 38 which is compressed between a fixed stop 39 and the linkage system 27. For arresting the wheel undercarriage in inactive position the container 11 is provided with an easily detachable lock 40, and for arresting the wheel undercarriage in folded-out and moved-apart position there is attached a catch device 41 on the pull rod 21, which catch device can be brought in engagement with a catch 42 on the container.

If the wheel undercarriage 15 shall be pivoted from its inactive position shown in figures 1 and 2 to operative transport position the catch device 40 is opened, whereby the entire wheel undercarriage due to the pressure from spring 38 will begin to rotate around the pivot 16 and swing out of the container 11. The spring pressure is chosen so that the linkage system 27 thereby unfolds completely, i.e. the link arms 28 and 29 will mainly form a straight line. By pivoting he pull rod 21 upwards to the position shown in figures 3 19940 and 4, the rod 26 is displaced against the wheels, whereby the second, linkage system 34 will be acted upon, and the link arras 35, 36 and thereby also the legs 18 and 19 of the wheel undercarriage will be moved apart. At this movement of the pull rod the spring 38 is also compressed and presses thereby upon the linkage system 27 i.e. the link arm 29, whereby this will remain in its extended position.

The returning of the wheel undercarriage into the container is accomplished in the opposite manner. The pull handle 21 is first released from the catch 42 and it is then swung in a direction towards the wheels, whereby the legs 18, 19 are moved together and the spring 38 is relieved from load, whereby following a push on the wheel undercarriage in a direction towards the container the linkage system 27 bends inwards and the wheel undercarriage can be pivoted into the compartment 12 in the container. At this collapsing the spring 38 is again compressed and in order to prevent the wheel undercarriage from being swung out again the catch device 40 is activated. In order to facilitate the bending inwards of the first linkage system 27 it is advantageous .that the link arms 28 and 29 when extended form together an o obtuse angle, which shall differ only little from 180 .

In figures 5-8 is shown a modified embodiment of the golf cart according to the invention, which differs from the embodiment according to figures 1-4 mainly in the design of the operating mechanism for the wheel undercarriage movement.

Components and details in this embodiment similar to those in the previously described have been given the same reference numerals.

The golf cart shown in figures 5-8 thus comprises a container or bag 11, subdivided in a number of compartments 12, 13 and 14 intended to house the wheel undercarriage 15 with wheels 20, golf clubs, appurtenences and the like. f* 1 3224EP/DW 810310 CiH ini*3 6 19 940 A shaft 16 is fitted to the upper part of the container 11, and pivotably supported thereon are the upper end of the wheel undercarriage frame 17 and the longer arm 22 of the pull rod 21. The pull rod is at its opposite end provided with a pull handle 23, which in collapsed position will be kept in the space between the wheels 20 in the compartment 12 as can be seen in figure 1.

The pull rod 21 comprises also in this case a longer arm 22 and a shorter arm 24 extending on the other side of said shaft 16 and being arranged to act upon a first link 51 of a first linkage system 50 of the operating mechanism of the wheel undercarriage of the cart.

This first linkage system 50 is adapted to control the movement of the wheel undercarriage 15 into and out of the compartment 12 in the golf cart container 11 when acted upon by the pull rod, when this is moved from its inactive storing position between the wheels of the cart to its operative position completely extended and ready for use. The first linkage thus comprises three links 51, 52 and 53, which are all pivotably arranged about a common pivot 54. The opposite end of the first link 51 is as stated hereabove pivotably connected to the end of the shorter pull rod arm 24, whereas the second arm 52 is pivotably connected to a fixed point of the very container 11 and the third arm 53 is with its end opposed to the common pivot 54, pivotably connected to the frame 17 of the wheel undercarriage 15. The pivot 54 is thus "floating" and its position relative to the wheel undercarriage is determined by the actual position of the pull rod. In figure 6 is shown in continuous lines the -position of the pivot 54 and the links 51, 52, 53 when the pull rod is situated in its retracted inactive position, whereas the figure shows in phantom the position of the same items when the pull rod has been swung out to an intermediate position. Figures 7 and 8 show views corresponding to figures 5 and 6 in which the pull rod (of which only a part is shown) has been moved to its most extended position, i.e. the operative transport position.

P1300'IEP/DW 810310 &-oC ml© 7 1 99407 The longer arm 22 of the pull rod 21 is provided with a pivot 55 on which is pivotably supported one end of a rod 56, the other end of which is pivotably connected to a second linkage system 57 intended to effect the lateral movement of the wheel-provided legs 18 and 19 of the wheel undercarriage, which lateral movement must however not be begun until the wheel undercarriage is swung out so far from its inactive rest position in the compartment 12, that the wheels 20 are completely free from the side walls of the container to make such lateral movement.

This second linkage system 57 comprises two link arms 58, 59 which are pivotable about a common pivot 60, to which the opposite end of rod 56 is likewise pivotably connected. The two link arms 58, 59 are with their ends turned from the common pivot 60 pivotably connected to one of the legs of the wheel undercarriage 15 each, and when the pull rod is swung around its pivot 16 this means that the rod 56 will act upon the common pivot 60, which will thereby be displaced resulting in the link arms 58, 59 being moved from the position shown in figure 5, where they form an acute angle together to the position shown in figure 7 where they are mainly aligned, in which position the legs 18, 19 of the wheel undercarriage are swung out as much as possible.

The movement of the pivot 55 on the longer pull rod arm 22 is begun immediately the pull rod is moved out from its rest position inside the compartment 12 and it is thereby moved along an arc-formed path 61, but this arc-formed path 61 is arranged thus that the pivot 55 during the first part of this movement is hardly increasing - or decreasing - its distance from the pivot, which means that the lateral movement of the wheel undercarriage legs 18 and 19 is not begun until the entire wheel undercarriage 15 has been folded out of the compartment 12, to the intermediate position shown with dash-and-dot lines in figure 6, which is effected by the shorter pull rod arm 24 acting upon the first linkage system.50 during the first part of the pull rod movement. During the second part of this movement the wheel undercarriage is then 1 P13gg4CP/DW 010319 G5»C- 1994 moved out to its position shown in figure 8, and the wheels 20 and their supporting legs 18, 19 are simultaneously moved apart to the position shown in figure 7, which position corresponds to figure 8.

The pull rod 21 is provided with a catch device 41 adapted to be hitched to a catch 42 arranged in the container to lock the golf cart in transport position.

Figure 9 of the drawings show in a side view schematically the golf cart according to figures 5 - 8 in operative transport position. As shown in this figure the pull rod 21 has a pull handle part 21a which terminates in a handle 21b which is bent perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the pull rod. The handle part 21a is furthermore rotatable in relation to the pull rod, and for this purpose it is fitted to the pull rod 21 in a manner further shown and described in figure 10.

With this possibility of placing the pull handle 21b in different angular positions relative to the pull rod it is possible to place the perpendicular handle part 21b in the position most suitable for the need at any specific time. It could thus be desirable to have the handle 21b placed as shown in continuous lines, but it could also be appropriate to have the handle located as shown in dash lines at 21c for pulling the cart with a right hand or left hand grip, or as shown with dash-and-dot lines at 21d upwards whereby the tubular handle end can be used for fitting a sun-shade, an umbrella 63 or the like.

In figure 10 is finally shown a preferred embodiment of the rotatable connection between the pull rod 21 and its handle part 21a. The pull rod 21 is thus provided with a helical spring 64 arranged between a fixed stop and the end of the pull handle 21a which, is connected to the pull rod. Adjacent the end of the pull rod 21 there is fitted a retainer 65 which at its inner end is provided with a number of semi-circularly formeid apertures 66. The pull handle which passes 8 P13g24CP/BW 010319— 199407 through this sleeve is at its end extending to the opposite side of the sleeve 65 equipped with a shaft 67 adapted to enter in diametrically opposed apertures 66 in the retainer 66. The spring 64 is adapted to press the pull handle 21a against the retainer thereby to retain the pull handle 21b in its occasional position in relation to the remainder of the pull rod. By the described construction it is achieved a simple and reliable possibility of indexing the handle merely by pushing the handle inwards whereby the spring action will be overcome and the shaft 67 will move away from the apertures and allow rotation of the pull handle 21a to the desired position whereupon the force on the pull handle can be released to allow the spring 64 to bring the shaft into engagement with the apertures again.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown and described, but it can be considerably varied within the scopes of the appended claims. q P 1 3224EP/BW 010319 QH G6iC ~>nte3

Claims (8)

] «| <3 tf-o 7 WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A two-wheeled golf cart provided with a pull rod and a container which is subdivided into a plurality of compartments for receiving golf clubs and different appurtenances and for housing a wheel undercarriage with the wheels thereof in their inactive, retracted position, whereby the wheel undercarriage is attached to the container and is provided with legs, each of which is provided with one of said wheels, said legs being able to be laterally moved apart after the undercarriage has been folded out of the said container to its active position and being able to be pulled together before the wheel undercarriage is folded into the container to its inactive position, said pull rod comprising a two-armed lever, one arm being longer than the other and said cart also comprising a first linkage system which is arranged, after releasing a latch to fold out the wheel undercarriage and the pull rod from the container under the action of a spring and a second linkage system which, when the longer arm of the pull rod is swung upwards or downwards from the shorter arm is actuated in such a manner that the legs of the wheel undercarriage are spread out to their active position or pulled together respectively

2. A golf cart as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first linkage system incorporates two pivotably interconnected links, the first one of which being linked to the container and the second one being linked to the wheel undercarriage, guides being provided along one of the links for receiving a slidably mounted bush, a rod which is linked to the shorter arm of the pull rod being arranged to be freely displaceable in said bush and said spring being fitted along the rod for acting upon the first linkage system.

3. A golf cart as claimed in claim 2 wherein the second linkage system incorporates two links which are pivotably connected to each other, and which are each one furthermore pivotably connected to one leg each of the wheel undercarriage, the rod connected to the shorter arm of the pull rod being linked with its opposite end to the pivot point for the links of the second linkage system. - 10 - i 9 94 0 7

4. A golf cart as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first linkage system incorporates three links which are pivotable about a common pivot point and wherein each link with its opposite end is linked to the container, to the shorter arm of the pull rod and to the wheel undercarriage resp., the link connected to the shorter arm of the pull rod thereby being adapted during the movement of the pull rod to displace the common pivot point in a direction towards and away from the wheel undercarriage resp.

5. A golf cart as claimed in claim 1 or claim 4 wherein the second linkage system incorporates two pivotably interconnected links which are furthermore each pivotably connected to one leg each of the wheel undercarriage, and that a rod is arranged between the pivot for these two links and the longer arm of the pull rod, whereby the rod is attached to the longer arm of the pull rod at a position which during the first part of the pivoting movement of the pull rod remains mainly at the same distance away from the said pivot, whereas it during the second part of the pull rod's pivot movement increases its distance to said pivot point.

6. A golf cart as claimed in claim 1, wherein the handle part of the pull rod is designed to be perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the pull rod, and that the handle part is pivotably connected to the other part of the longer pull rod arm and adapted to be lockable in different rotational positions relative to the pull rod.

7. A golf cart as claimed in claim 6, wherein the handle part is lockable in four distinct rotational positions relative to the longer arm of the pull rod. '1 > an -F4-322HEP/9W 8 1994 12

8. A two-wheeled golf cart substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the embodiments shown in Figures 1 to 10 of the accompanying drawings. BAM, |9N^£Y ATTORNEYS FOR THE APPLICANTS JQ. -