As a result of the way golf clubs are used, and their design, dirt will collect on the clubs, which is both an aesthetic problem and a problem in relation to the playing of the game, as the striking surfaces, as well as the weight and centre of gravity of the club may change. Thus all golf players regularly clean their clubs.

Most courses offer golf club washing, either using a bucket and brush or cleaning with a normal hand-held brush such as a common dish brush. Such a brush is generally not ideal for the job. In addition, many players use so much force on the brush as to quickly wear it out and render it useless. For this reason, the cleaning facilities at the golf course are often not satisfactory, and so the players take their dirty clubs home for washing.

Mechanical solutions have been proposed, which include rotating brushes for washing of golf clubs. Thus a machine is known from DE 195 09 675, which comprises two rotating brushes that rotate about parallel axes, and which includes a slot between the brushes into which the golf club may be inserted to be brushed and washed from both sides. The brushes are declared to rotate towards each other, probably so as to make them run towards each other at the top and away from each other at the bottom. This solution requires a distance between the brushes which is proportionate to the largest club heads.

Thus there exists a need for simple and reliable means of washing golf clubs, which avoids spraying water, soap and dirt from the club onto the user, and which provides efficient and user-friendly washing of all clubs.

This is achieved by means of a washing machine for golf clubs comprising a housing having two contra-rotating brushes with substantially vertically arranged parallel axes of rotation, and where the head of the golf club may be washed by inserting this between the two contra-rotating brushes while adding water and possibly detergent,

characterised in that the stiffness of the bristle on the brushes varies, so that there are areas of relatively stiff bristle and areas of relatively soft bristle along the length of the brushes.

Thus in the following the present invention will be described with reference to a preferred embodiment and the accompanying figures, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 shows the same embodiment as figure 1, where a protective casing has been removed; and Figure 3 shows a brush according to the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present washing machine 1 for golf clubs. The washing machine 1 comprises a housing 13 on which is mounted rotating brushes 4 preferably protected by a protective casing 2 with a washing orifice 3. The protective casing 2 is both a physical protection for the brushes 4 in order to prevent these being exposed to any accidental physical influences, and a safeguard to prevent unauthorised persons such as children from touching the brushes during operation.

The housing 13 contains means of rotating the brushes 4 and possibly containers for water and/or detergent, as well as any pumps for the same. The housing may also contain other equipment which may be accessed through e. g. a hatch 11. Supporting hooks 10 on the side of the housing may serve as support for golf bags, while a base 12, which may consist of e. g. wooden scuttles, reduces wear on the underlayer and ensures that the user may stand in a dry area during use. The housing may also contain a payment machine into which the user must put money or other means of payment to be able to use the machine. In this case the payment machine will be connected up in a known manner to the means of operating the brushes, so that the brushes can only be started when payment has been effected. Ordinarily, the payment machine will also comprise a timer that allows the user a certain amount of time before the machine is automatically switched off.

The means of operating the brushes is one or more electric motors. Preferably, one electric motor is used for each of the two brushes, so that the motors directly drive their respective brushes, as gearing or a belt drive from the motor to a brush results in a more complicated, more vulnerable and more costly construction. If one of the motors fails, this construction will also allow easy replacement.

The brushes 4 rotate about substantially parallel axes of rotation 6. The brushes are installed so as to either leave a small clearing between the brushes or make the bristle of one brush touch the bristle of the other brush. By letting the bristle of one brush touch the bristle of the other brush, one ensures that no gaps are created in which the club head will not be brushed.

When a user wishes to use the machine, the machine is started, i. e. the rotation of the brushes commences and water and detergent is supplied to the brushes. The machine is started by putting money into the payment machine by means of a switch or possibly a key switch. The brushes will then start to rotate towards each other, i. e. such that the brushes move towards each other at the top and away from each other at the bottom, making the brushes contra-rotating.

This direction of rotation prevents spraying of water and possibly detergent up between the brushes and onto the user. At the same time as the brushes start rotating, the water and detergent feeds are also opened up. If the water mains is not accessible at the site of use, the club washing machine may hold a water tank or be connected up to an external water tank. However this assumes that the washing machine is connected to a pump for pumping of water. If the water mains is accessible at the site of use, the club washing machine may be connected to the water mains.

After the brushes have been started up and the supply of water and possibly detergent has been initiated, the user may insert the head of the golf club between the brushes 4 through a washing orifice 3 in the protective casing 2. The head of the club will then be scrubbed on both sides by the rotating brushes.

In order to achieve efficient washing of the club head, the stiffness of the bristle 8 of the brushes 4 is, according to the present invention, greater at one end of the brush, seen along the longitudinal axis of the brush, than at the other. Preferably the stiffness decreases continuously or in steps from one end of the brush to the other. Preferably both brushes are oriented the same way, so that the bristles in facing regions of two adjacent brushes have similar stiffness. The difference in stiffness across the length of the brushes allows the user to control the force of the scrubbing by moving the club in the longitudinal direction of the brushes. Such control is highly advantageous, as it allows efficient cleaning of clubs with different size heads, and also enables the user to scrub harder at dirt that is stuck than at loose dirt without having to change the washing area, change out the brushes or readjust the spacing of the brushes.

Figure 3 shows a section through a preferred brush. The external shape of the brush, defined by the bristle 8 of the brush, is in the form of a circular cylinder where the brush rotates about the axis of the cylinder. The bristle 8 is fitted so as to project out from a conical core 5 having a bore 9 for a shaft 6. The effect of this is to give the bristle different length along the longitudinal direction of the brush. The longest bristle will yield more than the short bristle, which results in different stiffness of the bristle along the longitudinal direction of the brush. By installing the brushes so that the bristle of the facing ends with the shortest, and therefore stiffest, bristle is parallel, preferably such that this is closest to the housing 13 on both brushes, the user will be able to control the force of the scrubbing on the club by moving the club between the brushes in their longitudinal direction. The washing machine may therefore also be used for different sized and shaped clubs without readjustment, by the user simply finding the optimal club position during washing.

As an alternative to the preferred brush shown, the variable bristle stiffness may be achieved in a brush where the core is a straight cylinder, by varying the type and grade of bristle along the longitudinal direction of the brush, so as to give a stiffer bristle at one end of the brush than at the other. The core may also be constructed from a number of assembled, straight cylinders with different diameters, so as to give a stepwise change in stiffness. It is also possible to combine a core of varying diameter with

different bristle along the longitudinal direction of the brush in order to achieve other desirable combinations of stiffness and flexibility in the bristle.

The brushes being contra-rotating as described above will cause the club to be drawn lightly into the washing machine by the rotation of the brushes.

As mentioned above, the bristle 8 may be the same across the whole brush, the requisite difference in softness being accommodated through the different length of the bristle. It may however also be preferable to have different bristle in different areas along the brushes if an even greater difference in stiffness is required along the brush.

Water and possibly detergent is introduced to the brushes from the housing 13 via one or more water suppliers 7. The water suppliers 7 are hoses or pipes that run from the interior of the housing and have outlets such that water and possibly detergent is introduced to one or both brushes 4. Water may also be introduced to the washing device from a water mains, so that the water is pressurised. The water may come from an internal or external tank and be sufficiently pressurised by means of a pump. Any detergent is supplied from a tank inside the housing and introduced by means of an electric or manual pump. As an example, a manual pump may be of interest if the user is to be able to add detergent as required.

Water running or spraying from the brushes is collected by the protective casing 2 and preferably carried off via a pipe (not shown), either to a collecting tank in the housing or to drains connected to the washing device.

The present invention has been described with reference to an embodiment in which the brushes vary with regard to the stiffness of the bristle, so that the bristle at one end is stiffer than at the other end. It is however also envisaged that the brushes may be stiffest at the ends and softest in the middle, or vice versa.