TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a golf bag having retractable legs, which enable the bag to stand up by itself - without for example being mounted on a caddy car.

BACKGROUND

Golf bags having legs are known. One such golf bag currently on the market carrying the Ping trademark comprises a pair of legs hinged to the bag at spaced apart locations near the mouth of the bag. A curved spring member is connected between the bottom of the bag and a point midway along the leg. When the bag is placed on the ground so that the player can select a club for the next shot, the bottom of the bag is pushed upwards somewhat. This in turn moves the spring members upwards and pushes out the legs. The extended legs form a tripod with the base and support the bag in its upright position. One problem with this construction is that the spring members have to be located at a position normally occupied by one of the pockets conventionally provided on a golf bag, thereby reducing the available pocket space.

A similar device is also available as an extra to be retrofitted to existing golf bags, wherein a mechanism similar to that outlined above is provided on a pillar which is clamped externally to one side of a conventional bag.

A further golf bag construction sold under the Wilson trademark also has a pair of integrally fitted legs. The legs are hinged part way down the bag and are held in the extended position by rubber straps extending from the mouth of the bag to a position part way along the legs. The bag includes a carrying strap, and the lower end of the carrying strap is attached by further straps to positions part way along the legs. In this way, when the bottom of the carrying strap is pulled inwards, the legs are retracted. This construction suffers from a number of disadvantages. Firstly, the legs hinge along a generally common axis, so that in the extended position the bottoms of the legs are not splayed enough to give a stable configuration. Secondly, the elastic straps and linkages for attracting the legs are located outside the bag and are both untidy in appearance and unduly complicated. More importantly, it is necessary to maintain a constant pressure on the bottom of the carrying strap in order to keep the legs in the retracted position while the bag is being carried. This requires an additional effort on the part of the player.

In our pending International Patent Application PCT/GB91/01635, we describe an arrangement of legs which are integrally provided and are extended and retracted by the direct action of a lever (which also functions to open the bag to present the clubs to the player in a fan-like serial manner) . A potential problem with this mechanism

is that the legs may not become fully retracted against the sides of the bag when the bag is being carried.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism which mitigates some of these problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, the present invention provides a golf bag for carrying golf clubs which comprises; a generally tubular bag member having a base, a front portion and a rear portion; a pair of legs hinged at their upper ends to an upper end of the rear portion of the bag member, the legs being hingeable from a retracted position alongside the bag member to an extended position wherein the legs form a tripod arrangement with the base of the bag; - biasing means operative on the legs for biasing the legs into the retracted position; handle means pivotally mounted to an upper end of the front portion of the bag member; connecting means operatively connecting the handle means and the legs such that pivotting of the handle means extends the legs into the extended position; and latching means operative for holding the legs in the extended position.

Thus, in the present invention the legs are biased

into the retracted position and are moved into the extended position by operation of the handle means.

The legs are advantageously hinged in such a way that they project in a generally radial direction relative to the tubular bag member when in the extended position. The hinges are usually arranged in such a manner that space is left to accommodate a conventional pocket between the legs, in such a way that the legs in the retracted position lie one on either side of the pocket. The legs may be demountably attached into a socket on the hinge mechanism for removal during transport is necessary.

Biasing means are provided on the legs for biasing the legs into the retracted position. The biasing means may be a spring operating in tension or in compression, particularly a coil spring, or may be other resilient means, such as a rubber strap.

However, in a preferred embodiment where the legs extend in a generally radial direction relative to each other, it is preferred to provide the spring means in the form of a generally V-shaped spring yoke which operates between the two legs, the connecting means being attached to the apex of the V. The V-shaped spring is generally operative by pushing the two legs apart close to the hinge joints, which, because of their inclined radial orientations, has the effect of bringing the legs into the retracted position.

The handle means are in addition to any conventional

handle which may be provided on the golf bag and a function of the handle means is to retract the legs when the bag is to be picked up and carried. Preferably, the pivot of the handle means is mounted on a frame within the bag at a position spaced inwardly from the front portion of the bag member, so as to lie generally above the centre of gravity of the bag when the bag is full of golf clubs and is in its tripod-like orientation with the legs extended. This allows the bag to be picked up by the handle means without causing the bag to swing unduly. It also helps put the bag down in its correct inclination.

The connecting means are operatively connected between the handle means and the legs, such that as the handle means is pivotted, the legs are drawn into the extended position against the action of the biasing means. This causes the legs to be extended as the bag is set down holding the handle means. Generally, the connecting means is a cord or rod.

The latching means operates for holding the legs in the extended position against the effect of the biasing means. This holds the legs in the extended position when the bag is standing on the ground, preventing undesired retraction of the legs. The latch can be unlatched when the legs are to be retracted in any suitable manner. This includes pulling a second time on the handle or by operating a separate trigger mechanism to unlatch the latching means. However, in a preferred embodiment the

latching means is automatically unlatched by the operation of picking up the golf bag by the carrying strap. Conventionally, golf bags include a carrying strap for carrying the bag on the player's shoulder. In this preferred embodiment, the upper end of the carrying strap is loosely attached to the upper end of the bag member, such that the end moves when tension is applied thereto and unlatches the latching means. In this way, retraction of the legs occurs automatically as the bag is lifted up by the carrying strap.

In a further preferred embodiment, the golf bag is divided longitudinally up the front, so that it may be fanned out to present the club heads in an organised serial manner, as described in our earlier patent publication WO92/05842. In this case, a further cord or similar flexible member is attached between the two sides of the bag and the end of the carrying strap. Thus as the bag is lifted up by the carrying strap, the two sides of the golf bag are brought together, closing the fan. Preferably, the fan is biased by spring biasing means into an open position, and to prevent premature reopening of the bag, further latching means may be provided operative on the end of the carrying strap. Conveniently, these further latching means form part of the handle means, such that when the handle means are operated as the bag is placed on the ground (in order to open the legs) the end of the carrying strap is unlatched and the two sides of

the bag open in a fan-like manner.

The benefit of using the handle means is that the legs are positively opened by action of the handle. Furthermore, when the bag is standing on the ground in its tripod-like configuration, it may be picked up again if the player wishes to move its position, for example to move the bag out of the way while a shot is being played, without having to retract the legs. Moreover, when the bag is lifted using the handle means, there is no tendency of the bag to spin. Finally, biassing the legs into the retracted position helps ensure the legs retract tightly against the side of the bag during carrying.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only in conjunction with the drawings wherein;

Figure 1 is a schematic elevation partly in section of the upper end of a golf bag according to the invention (some items omitted for clarity) ;

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof;

Figure 3 is a simplified view of the handle mechanism in a pivotted position wherein the legs are extended; and

Figure 4 shows the handle mechanism in a rest position wherein the legs are retracted.

The golf bag comprises a generally tubular bag member 2 having a front portion 4 and a rear portion 6. The term

"generally tubular" is intended to be construed broadly to cover conventional bags capable of holding golf clubs.

A pair of legs 8, 10 are hinged by hinges 12, 14 to the upper end of the rear of the bag member. The legs not only extend radially outwards relative to one another but their hinging planes 9, 11 are also at an angle with one another, so that when the legs are extended a tripod arrangement is formed with the base of the bag. This provides maximum stability for the bag.

The legs are biased into a retracted position by means of a V-spring 16 having a pair of free ends 18, 20 which are coiled in a rams horn manner in order to provide the biassing and comprise straight free end sections extending into the hinge region of the legs. The apex 22 of the V-spring is attached to one end of a cord connecting means 24. In the retracted position the legs lie on either side of a pocket 26 extending along the rear portion of the bag member.

A handle 30 is pivotally attached at 32 to a frame 34 (partially shown in Figure 4) . The handle comprises a grippable section 36 and a downwardly extending arm 38. The free end of the arm 38 is attached to the other end of the connecting cord 34. A ramp stop 40 extends from an upper end of the arm 38 and acts as a latch for latching carrying strap 50 as will be described later.

As can be seen from Figure 2, the upper end of the golf bag includes a grid 42 comprising a number of

partitions for holding golf clubs and includes a central hollow partition 43 through which the connecting cord 24 passes for protection of the cord.

Figures 3 and 4 show in more detail the handle and latching mechanism. In Figure 3, the handle is in its pivotal position whereby the legs are extended against the bias of V-spring 16 and there is tension in the connecting cord 24. The handle is latched in position by means of a latch member 52 formed of flat spring metal attached to a lower end of the handle arm 38 and having a stop portion 53 which latches behind a pin 54 mounted on the frame 34. The free end 56 thereof is connected by a cord 58 to a lower end of a strap moulding 60 connected to the carrying strap 50. This constitutes a lost motion device and in Figure 3 the cord 58 is loose.

Thus, Figure 3 shows the situation when the golf bag is on the ground and standing up with the legs in a tripod configuration. In this manner, the bag can be readily picked up by the handle 30 and moved to a different location without having to retract the legs. However, when the legs are to be retracted for carrying on the player's shoulder, the following procedure is adopted. The player catches hold of the carrying strap 50 and pulls it upwardly so as to lift the bag off the ground, in the direction of the arrow. This in turn moves the strap moulding 60 upwardly and after a predetermined distance the cord 58 becomes tensioned and pulls the spring steel

latch member 52 up over the pin 54 so as to unlatch the handle. The tension in the connecting cord 24 caused by the V-spring 16 on the legs pivots the handle to the position shown in Figure 4.

The strap 50 is biased in a downward direction by a spring mechanism, which is not shown for clarity. Thus, when the strap moulding 60 reaches top of its upward extent, which is controlled by an enlarged section 62 (which forms a stop) at the bottom of the strap moulding abutting a gusset plate 64 connected to the frame, upward travel is terminated and the strap moulding is latched in place by ramp 40.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the downward biasing on the strap is provided by way of a resilient mechanism such as disclosed in W092/05842 which operates to open the bag and present the clubs in a fan-like serial manner. In this case, the lower end of the strap moulding is connected by cords to either side of the longitudinal division of the front of the golf bag, and the biasing means is constituted by a metal spring strip extending in a U-shape around the upper periphery of the bag. In this way, as the bag is lifted up by the strap 50 which unlatches the handle 30 and allows the legs to retract, the strap also pulls in the sides of the bag and closes the fan-like configuration at the same time. Thus, in this preferred embodiment, lifting the strap simultaneously closes the fan configuration of the bag and

allows the legs to retract, such that the bag is ready for carrying.

To summarise, in this preferred embodiment, as the bag is being carried, the fan opening orientation is closed against a spring metal around the top of the bag, and the legs are pulled in against the biasing of the V-spring. To set the bag down on the ground, hold is taken of the handle which pulls the legs out against the bias of the V-spring and latches in place. Simultaneously, the latch 40 is released and the strap moulding 60 moves downwards to allow the bag to fan open. After the player has played a shot, he picks up the bag by the strap 60 which unlatches the handle and retracts the legs and also pulls shut the fan-like orientation of the bag, until latch 40 operates to hold the strap in the extended position.