US2880012A - Golf caddy vehicle having spring supported golf club rack - Google Patents

Description

March 31, 1959 R. 5. WILSON 2,880,012

GOLF CADDY VEHICLE HAVING SPRING SUPPORTED GOLF CLUB RACK Filed June 15, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

R/CHHAD 5 W/L SON Arrakzve'y March 31, 1959 1 R. s.'wu soN com CADDY VEHICLE HAVING ,SPRING SUPPORTED com CLUB RACK Filed Jfine 15, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. RICH/4RD s. W/[ scw United States Patent GOLF CADDY VEHICLE HAVING SPRING SUPPORTED GOLF CLUB RACK Richard S. Wilson, Santa Barbara, Calif.

Application June 15, 1955, Serial No. 515,713

Claims. (Cl. 280-4719) My invention relates to golf club caddy vehicles having racks attached and has particular reference to a novel rack construction and mounting so that golf clubs are retained in a rack regardless of the severity of jolting, dropping or vibration.

Racks for retaining golf clubs have become important with the increase in use of wheeled carts for the carrying of clubs. Such carts are generally manually pulled and of two wheel construction and are referred to as caddy carts. More recently, self-propelled vehicles for carrying the player and his clubs have been used, and here also racks are attached to the vehicle for retaining the clubs. Racks permit the clubs to be spread out for easy selection. Also racks permit separation of the clubs as contrasted to jumbling the clubs together as has been the practice in the past. Racks therefore prevent clubs from marring and nicking each other, making unnecessary protective coverings for the club heads.

The principal difiiculty with racks heretofore used has been the loss of clubs when the carts or vehicles have traveled over rough terrain. This jolting has loosened all conventional types of clips and retainers so that clubs would drop off the racks, often without knowledge of the player. It has not been sufiicient to place the heavy club head down so as to rest against a support. Even when this is tried, the jolting forces acting on the club shafts dislodge the shafts from their retainers, causing the club to fall off of the rack.

I have discovered that this dislodging of clubs even during violent jolting can be prevented by the spring mounting of the rack on its carrier. Furthermore, I have discovered that the spring mounting must be so designed that warping and twisting forces are not transmitted from the hand pulled caddy vehicle or power vehicle to the frame itself. My research has lead to the discovery that a leaf spring is best suited for this spring mounting of a rack to its vehicle.

It is therefore a general object of my invention to provide a superior type of golf club rack and caddy vehicle construction.

Another object is to provide a spring mounted rack free of twisting forces when in use.

Another object is to provide a spring mounting for caddy vehicle racks.

A further object is to provide a golf club rack that may be simply attached to any type of carrier. I

Another object is to provide a readily detachable club rack that may be used as a retainer for transporting golf clubs.

Other objects, advantages and features of my invention will be apparent in the following description and claims considered together with the accompanying drawings forming an integral part of this specification in which: Fig. l is a side elevation view showing my golf rack applied to a manually pulled caddy vehicle.

I Fig/2 is a perspective view of the vehicle of Fig. 1. with a rack embodying the invention attached thereto.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper leaf spring connecting the rack to the caddy vehicle.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an optional clamp bar which may be applied to the rack of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a modified form of rack embodying the invention.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view along the line VII-VII of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view through the locking lug taken along the line VIIIVIII of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a plan view partly in section of a modified form of leaf spring for connecting golf club frames to caddy vehicle.

Fig. 10 is an end View of the leaf spring of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a side view of the leaf spring of Fig. 9.

Fig. 12 is a view partly in section of a modified form of latch for holding club shafts against the rack.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4, my club rack 10 may be mounted to any suitable carrier, manually propelled or self propelled, and for illustrative purposes there is shown a presently available type of two-wheeled manual carrier 11. These carriers 11 are generally referred to as caddy carts and may have two wheels 12 joined to an upright frame member 13 to which a handle 14 may be secured at its upper end. A suitable rest such as a bracket 16 may be disposed on the bottom end of the frame member to act as a third point of support when the cart 11 is not being propelled, in which case the frame 11 may be substantially vertical.

Referring now to the details of construction of the frame 10, I desire to make the frame 10 as light as possible and employ at present an inturned channel 17 bent into a rectangular outline. A single piece of metal is preferable, having its ends welded or riveted together. A plurality of horizontal cross bars 18, 19 and 21 may be secured to the frame, and their fastening is facilitated by disposing their ends within the inturned channel 17. The cross bar 18 may have a plurality of elastic clips 22 secured thereto as by a self tapping screw 23. These clips and the mode of attachment may be conventional if desired. The cross bar 19 may be of a soft material such as rubber, plastic or wood and has notches 24 therein for receiving golf club shafts. The bar 21 may be of metal in which case it may be covered with a soft material such as a plastic or rubber extrusion to prevent damage to clubs. The bottom bar of the frame 17 may be similarly covered as by a channel shaped plastic extrusion 30 (Fig. 2). The heads of iron clubs 26 may rest against the transverse bar 21, whereas the heads of wood clubs 25 may rest against the bottom bar of frame 17.

Considering now the leaf spring structure, the upper and lower leaf springs may be identical if desired and hence only the upper leaf spring is shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4. The frame 10 is secured to the frame upright 13 by an upper leaf spring 27 and a lower leaf spring 28. The upper leaf spring 27 may be formed from a sheet of metal having a horizontal portion 29 and a bent right angle flange 31. This flange may be secured to a suitable horizontal bar on the frame, preferably the upper frame bar. Any suitable fasteners may be used and self threading screws 32 are illustrated.

The part of the leaf spring 27 adjacent to the caddy cart frame member 13 may be stiffened by riveting thereto, or otherwise suitably fastening a strip 33. The fastener preferably projects on the downward side from the strip 33 and there are illustrated fasteners in the form of double headed rivets 34 of which the bottom head is preferably of greater depths. These fastener heads may project through apertures in a horizontal bar attached to the caddy vehicle. Accordingly, an angle member 36 may be secured to the upright bar 13 as by a U-clamp 37 secured by nut and bolt means 38. The horizontal flange of this angle member 36 is apertured to receive the heads 'of fasteners 34. Disposed between the fasteners 34 may be a manually operable fastener connecting the leaf spring to the angle member 36. This may be of any desired type and there is illustrated a wing nut type of fastener 39 having a part of its shaft engaging a diagonal slot in a stationary member 41. Other suitable fasteners could be used such as an ordinary wing nut operating upon a threaded stud. Also, latches of any suitable type could be used, the purpose being merely to hold the heads of fasteners 34 in the apertures in the angle member 36.

Illustrated in Fig. 6 is a modified form of frame 10A which is mounted upon a modified type of spring illustrated in Figs. 9 through 11. The frame 10A may have a continuous mechanical outline as by a member 42 having an upper horizontal bar portion 42A and a lower horizontal bar portion 428. The frame 10A may have a plurality of inserted cross bars including an upper notch bar 43, a pair of latch bars 44 and 45, an intermediate notch bar 46 and a lower notch bar 47. The notch bars may be of any suitable construction, for example, an outwardly facing channel having an inserted notched piece of rubber or plastic. The lower frame member 42B may have a suitable protective covering placed over it so that the heads of wood clubs 25 may rest against it. The portion of cross bar 47 against which the iron clubs 26 bears may be similarly protected.

Referring to Figs. 9 through 11, the upper frame bar 42A may have a pair of spaced angle brackets 48 secured thereto and each may have an aperture. The projecting portion of these angles may be plastic coated, if desired, to reduce noise during use of the frame. Removably disposed between the angle brackets 48 is a shallow U-shaped bracket 49 having apertures through each ear of the U-shape. A rod member 51 is reciprocally mounted in these apertures. A leaf spring 52 is riveted at 59 or otherwise secured to the bracket 49. The leaf spring may be rigidly connected to the caddy cart at its other end as by means of rivets through holes 53. This construction is therefore the reverse of that in Fig. 3, and in Figs. 9 through 11, the leaf spring 52 has its cantilever mounting on the caddy cart instead of the frame as in Fig. 3. As shown in more detail in Fig. 11, an overload leaf spring 61 may be disposed under the leaf spring 52 and may be suitably secured to it as by rivets 63 passing through both springs and through an angle member 62 which may be secured to the caddy cart.

The reciprocating rod 51 is the latch member by means of which the frame is removed from the caddy cart. A V-shaped bend 51A may be formed in the rod to obtain an easy manual grasp of the rod. A friction fit collar 54 is passed over one end of the rod 51 and limits its movement to the left as viewed in Fig. 9. Compression spring 56 urges the rod to the left in Fig. 9 by bearing against the bracket 49 at one end and against a washer 57 held on the rod 51 by any suitable means such as a cotter pin 58. Preferably the spring when compressed stops the rod 51 so that its left end (Fig. 9) is just flush with the exterior surface of the bracket 49. This permits a user to grasp the V-bend 51A and move the rod 51 to the right in Fig. 9, disengaging the angle members 48, but limiting rod movement so that it does not disengage the rod bracket 49 also. Sufficient clearance between the rod and the apertures of angle member 4 3 allows angular movement between the frame and the bracket 49 to complete the unlatching action.

illustrated in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are improved fastening devices in the form of rotatable latch members 66. These members may be secured to the locking bars 44 and 45 by means of a threaded shank 67 having its outer end threaded into a length of metal bar 68. The metal bar 68 is coated with a resilient type of plastic preferably by dipping in a liquid plastic to become coated thereby to a considerable depth as illustrated. Accordingly, the plastic forms a thick cushion 69 about the metal bar 68. The latch bars 44 and 45 may have resilient strips 71 adhered or otherwise attached thereto. The shafts of the golf clubs 26 may bear against this cushion 71 and are held against it by the latch member 66.

In the operation of the latch members 66 shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, the clubs 26 or 25 are inserted in the rack and each club is held in position by virtue of fitting into notches in the cross bars 43 and 46 or 47. The latch members 66 being disposed between these notch bars are in a position to lock the golf club shafts into the notches. The stem 67 of each latch, which is preferably very finely threaded, is threaded into the latch bar 44 or 45 to the proper depth whereby the cushion 69 will tightly hold the shaft of the club 26 against the cushion 71. These latches 66 rotate to effect this latching operation. When upright they permit removal of the clubs from the notches. When rotated 90 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 6 the threads pull the entire latch 66 toward the shaft of the club gaining compression from the threads as well as compression due to the resilient cushion 69.

Illustrated in Fig. 5 is another form of a clamping mechanism which may be permanently or removably attached to the frame. Accordingly, a latch bar 72 may have a resilient cushion 73 on its inner face and it may be secured to the frame 17 as by a hinge 74 secured to one end. The other end of the clamp bar 72 may have a spring catch 76 secured to the other end which may engage the opposite side of the frame member 17 to latch the bar tightly against the shafts of the clubs 25 and 26 disposed in the frame. This latch bar is particularly useful when the frame is used as a retainer for the clubs during traveling when the frame is removed from the carrier. Alternatively, both ends of the bar 72 may have catches '76 so that the bar is completely removable.

Referring to Fig. 12, there is illustrated a modified form of latch fastened to a transverse frame member 44A. The frame member may have a strip of resilient material 70, such as foam rubber, applied against it having apertures in registry with tapped bores 71 in the member 44A. A metal core 72 may be bored on one end and a screw 73 passed therethrough with a freely sliding clearance. A helical compression spring 74 may surround the screw shank to bear against the metal core 72 and the frame member 44A. A plastic covering 75 Y may extend about the metal core 72. The screw 73 is threaded into the member 44A as by a screw driver, and the particular distance selected is maintained by a wing nut 76. This plastic covering may be applied by dipping and in this event a small bulge may be formed on one end at 77 to assist engagement of the latch around a club shaft 26. The core 72 and its plastic covering 75 may be freely pivoted on the screw 73 for locking or unlocking the club shaft.

Considering now the operation of the device of Figs. 1 to 4, the angle bars 36 are clamped to the frame 13 of the caddy cart 11 and the caddy cart is thereupon ready to receive the club frame 10 with its attached leaf springs 27 and 28. The projecting heads of the rivets 34 are fitted within the apertures of the angle bars 36, thereby positioning the leaf spring thereon. The manually operated latch or lock 39 is then operated to lock the leaf spring to the bar 36. This completes the as? sembly of the rack 10, the mounting springs 27 and 28 and the cart 11. Thereafter the cart may be pulled over rough terrain and the clubs will not be lost, the leaf springs cushioning the blows. Furthermore, the center mounting of the leaf springs on the frame It) prevents twisting of the frame which might otherwise eject a club.

The operation of the device of Figs. 6 to 11 is somewhat similar to that of Figs. 1 to 4 except that the attachment of the spring is reversed. The angle member 62 is attached to a caddy vehicle, either self powered or pulled, and the leaf spring 58 and the overload spring 61 are permanently fastened to it. The golfer may insert the pin 51 through the aperture of the bracket 48 (Fig. 9) and then depress the pin 51 manually until it fits within its bracket whereupon the pin 51 will spring into the aperture of the bracket because of the spring 54. The leaf spring is thus pivotally connected to the frame member 42A. The frame 10A is accordingly Spring mounted on its carrier vehicle (not shown). To disconnect the frame 10A from its springs, the golfer merely depresses the pin 51 with a golf tee or other pointed object until it clears its bracket 48 whereupon the frame 10A is elastically distorted to clear the rod 52 and the stationary pin 49 is then removed from its bracket 48.

This pivotal mounting of the frame 10A on the leaf spring 58 provides a pure cantilever spring mounting as contrasted to the doubly restrained cantilever of Figs. 1 to 4. The frame may move under response to blows and the overload spring 61 will help to cushion the most severe load.

While I have described my invention with respect to specific embodiments thereof, I do not limit myself to those embodiments nor otherwise, but include all modifications and variations as come within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. The combination comprising: a caddy vehicle having a generally vertical frame; a generally vertical frame for holding golf clubs generally upright and having an upper frame bar and a lower frame bar; a pair of generally horizontal cantilever leaf springs mechanically fastened one each to the upper bar and the lower bar; a pair of horizontally extending bars secured to the vehicle frame and spaced vertically with respect to each other the same distance as the spacing between the leaf springs; and manually operable fasteners for removably connecting the projecting ends of the cantilever leaf springs to the horizontal bars.

2. The combination comprising: a caddy vehicle having a generally vertical frame; a generally vertical frame for holding golf clubs generally upright and having an upper horizontal bar and a lower horizontal bar; a pair of horizontal bars secured to the vehicle and spaced vertically the same distance as the frame bars; a pair of horizontal leaf springs extending one between the upper frame bar and the upper vehicle bar and one between the lower frame bar and the lower vehicle bar; permanent mechanical fastenings for securing one end of each spring to its associated bar; and manually operable fasteners for removably securing the other end of each spring to its bar.

3. The combination in accordance with claim 2 wherein the manually operable fastener is disposed at the vehicle bars of each spring.

4. The combination in accordance with claim 2 wherein the manually operable fastener is disposed at the frame bar of each spring.

5. For use in a golf club rack and vehicle combination having a pair of spaced apertured members projecting from the rack, a leaf spring structure for mounting the rack on the vehicle comprising: a generally horizontal vehicle bar; a leaf spring secured to the bar and having an outer end engageable with said rack; an overload leaf spring secured to the bar under said leaf spring and extending approximately halfway to outer end of the leaf spring; a U-shaped bracket secured to the outer end of the leaf spring parallel to the bar and having its end apertured; and a reciprocating rod disposed in the apertures of the bracket and spring biased to extend in one direction, whereby the rack may be removably supported by the leaf spring structure by rod engaging the projecting apertured members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 595,139 Blakely Dec. 7, 1897 1,404,893 Robertson et al. Jan. 31, 1922 1,679,325 Black July 31, 1928 2,368,752 Duis Feb. 6, 1945 2,520,226 Smith Aug. 29, 1950 2,639,163 Walker May 19, 1953 2,647,762 Jamieson et al. Aug. 4, 1953 2,676,710 Williamson Apr. 27, 1954 2,687,895 Rutledge Aug. 31, 1954

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