U.S. patent number 3,707,279 [Application Number 05/003,674] was granted by the patent office on 1972-12-26 for golf club and ball warmer.
Invention is credited to Henry J. Kaiser, deceased.
United States Patent |
3,707,279 |
Kaiser, deceased |
December 26, 1972 |
GOLF CLUB AND BALL WARMER
Abstract
Heated tubes receive balls and the handles of clubs. The tubes
may be incorporated in a golf cart or bag and a separate ball
warmer is disclosed. In different modifications the tubes are
heated by a gas flame, electric heating elements, a chemical heater
or charcoal-type fuel sticks. The heat dries and warms the club
handles when wet or cold and increases the elasticity of the balls
so that longer drives may be made in cold weather.
Inventors: |
Kaiser, deceased; Henry J.
(Portland, OR) |
Family
ID: |
21707019 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/003,674 |
Filed: |
January 19, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
432/88;
206/315.6; 206/315.4; 280/47.26 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B
55/60 (20151001); A63B 47/005 (20130101); A63B
55/40 (20151001); A63B 2225/64 (20130101); A63B
55/404 (20151001); A63B 2057/605 (20151001); A63B
37/0003 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63B
55/00 (20060101); A63B 55/08 (20060101); A63B
47/00 (20060101); A63B 57/00 (20060101); F27b
009/00 (); A63b 055/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;263/1,2
;150/1.5R,1.5B,1.5C ;280/47.26 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Camby; John J.
Claims
Having now described my invention and in what manner the same may
be used, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters
Patent is:
1. A golf bag comprising a plurality of vertical tubes in said bag
to receive the handles of clubs, a tube to receive balls, a heating
chamber in the lower portion of said bag, the lower ends of said
tubes extending into said heating chamber, and means for supplying
heat to said heating chamber.
2. A golf bag as defined in claim 1 including upper and lower
partition plates in said bag, said tubes being mounted in holes in
said plates, and said lower partition plate forming an upper wall
for said heating chamber.
3. A golf bag as defined in claim 1 including a ball cage slidably
received in said ball tube.
4. A golf bag as defined in claim 3, said ball cage comprising a
tube having a longitudinal slot in one side thereof, and said slot
having a wide portion for inserting and removing said balls.
5. A golf bag as defined in claim 1 including a tube arranged in
said plurality of tubes to heat the hand grip of the golf cart
carrying said bag.
6. A golf bag as defined in claim 5, including a muff surrounding
said hand grip, said last tube communicating with said muff.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to devices for warming golf balls and the
handles of golf clubs.
Golf is played throughout the year in regions where the winter
climate is cold and damp but the ground is not frozen or covered
with snow. Nevertheless, the enjoyment of winter playing is much
diminished when the club handles are wet and cold and the player's
hands stiffen from the cold. Also, in cold weather the resilience
of a golf ball is considerably reduced, making the drives from tee
and fairway noticeably shorter than in warm weather. Thus, to the
human discomfort must be added the discouragement of consistently
higher scores in winter.
Participation in the game and enjoyment of the sport could be
greatly improved by relieving the discomfort of the players and
restoring the elasticity of the ball to its summertime condition.
If these two factors could be improved, more players would
cheerfully endure the chill of the air and sogginess underfoot to
continue winter practice in preparation for spring play and also to
substantially eliminate the traditional seasonal nature of the
game.
Objects of the invention are, therefore, to provide devices for
warming and drying the handles of clubs and for warming the balls,
to provide a golf bag or cart having a club and ball heater, to
provide a separate ball warmer, and to provide devices of the type
described for operation with different heating media, such as
butane or propane gas burners, electric heating elements, chemical
heaters and charcoal-type fuel sticks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Various modifications of the invention are disclosed. A golf cart
is equipped with tubes to receive the club handles and a tube to
receive golf balls. The tubes are heated by a butane gas burner
which also supplies heat to a hand muff around the pull handle grip
of the cart.
Electrically heated tubes for clubs and balls are incorporated in a
golf bag for energization from an electrical source in a
motor-driven golf buggy. In a similar form of construction, a
chemical heater is employed.
Various modifications of separate golf ball warmers are also
disclosed. These are arranged to hang on a hand-pulled golf cart or
on a motor-driven golf buggy and are heated by charcoal-type fuel
sticks which burn slowly for a a sufficient time to play eighteen
holes of golf. Heating the golf balls increases their resilience to
such an extent that the distance of tee and long fairway shots is
very noticeably increased whereby the scores are comparable with
those made in the summertime.
The invention will be better understood and additional objects and
advantages will become apparent from the following description of
the various embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Various changes may be made in the details of construction and
arrangement of parts and certain features may be used without
others. All such modifications within the scope of the appended
claims are included in the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf cart having a bag with a
butane gas heater embodying the invention, with parts broken
away;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a golf bag having an electric
heater embodying the invention, with parts broken away;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view of the ball heater
tube in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a detail of one of
the golf club tubes; and
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view, with parts broken away,
showing a golf bag similar to that in FIG. 2 equipped with a
chemical-type heater.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In FIG. 1 the golf cart 10 is equipped with a tubular pull handle
11 having a hand grip 12. Surrounding the grip 12 is a hand muff
13. A golf bag 15 is mounted on the cart by means of suitable
brackets 16.
Golf bag 15 contains a plurality of tubes 20 to receive the handles
of golf clubs 21 and a tube 22 to receive a removable ball cage 23
containing balls B. The upper ends of tubes 20 and 22 are mounted
in holes in a plate 24 in the upper end of the golf bag and the
lower portions of these tubes are mounted in holes in an insulated
partition plate 25 near the lower end of the golf bag. Tubes 20 and
22 are closed at their lower ends and abut a metal heating plate 26
spaced a short distance above the lower end of the bag. Below the
plate 26 is a combustion chamber 27 and between the plates 25 and
26 is a heating chamber 28. Bag 15 is lined with a suitable heat
insulating material.
Combustion chamber 27 contains a burner 30 supplied by a fuel
cartridge 31. The fuel is preferably butane or propane gas or a
liquefied petroleum gas. Combustion chamber 27 has suitable draft
openings in order to operate the burner 30. Burner 30 heats the
metal heat transfer plate 26 which in turn conducts heat to the
abutting lower ends of tubes 20 and 22. Plate 26 also heats the air
in heating chamber 28 to supply additional heat to the side walls
of the tubes contained within the chamber. These lower portions of
the tubes 20 contain the hand grips of clubs 21 whereby the hand
grips are warmed and dried if wet. Preferably, the lower end
portions 35 of the tubes 20 and 22, which are within the chamber
28, are made of good heat conducting metal such as aluminum while
the upper portions 36 of the tubes are made of plastic as shown in
FIG. 4.
The construction of ball cage 23 is shown in FIG. 3. The ball cage
comprises a metal tube 40 having a longitudinal slot 41 with one or
more wide portions 42 providing openings for the insertion and
removal of golf balls B. Preferably, there is a wide portion 42 at
the lower end for removing warmed balls and a wide portion 42 at
the upper end for inserting cold balls. Slot 41 enables the player
to see how may balls are in the tube. The lower end of the tube 40
is closed and the upper end is closed by a cap 43 having a handle
44 for withdrawing the cage tube 40 from heater tube 22.
The upper end of bag 15 is closed by a transparent cover 32 which
is hinged to the forward side of the bag at 33. This cover is
arranged to keep out rain water and prevent undue loss of heat from
the golf bag.
The structure of golf bag 15 thus far described is not limited to
use with a golf cart but may be carried by the player or his caddy
by means of the usual shoulder strap if desired. However, when the
golf bag is to be used with the cart 10, an additional heater tube
45 is provided. This tube has a bend in its upper portion causing
it to extend through the side of the golf bag with the upper end of
the tube connected with hand muff 13. The lower end of tube 45 is
left open and communicates through an opening in plate 28 with
combustion chamber 27. Thus, hot air from the combustion chamber is
conveyed directly into the hand muff 13 to warm the handle grip 12
and supply heat to the player's hand when pulling the cart. Tube 45
may serve as a draft tube or chimney for combustion chamber 27.
Alternatively, heater tube 45 may be arranged to discharge hot air
into hollow handle 11, if desired.
The golf bag 50 in FIG. 2 is generally similar to the golf bag in
FIG. 1 except that it is electrically heated. Insulated resistance
wires 51 are wound around the metal lower portions 35 of the tubes
20 and another insulated resistance wire 52 is wound around the
lower portion of ball tube 22. These resistance wires are energized
through an extension cord 53 from an electrical outlet on a
motorized golf buggy or cart having a battery. The heating circuits
are controlled to provide different degrees of heat through the
operation of switches 54, the condition of the circuits being
observed by indicator lights 55.
The tubes 20 and 22 in FIG. 2 are mounted in openings in plates 24,
56 and 57. Plate 56 includes a layer of insulation to define a
heating chamber between this plate and the bottom of the bag, which
chamber contains the resistance wires 51 and 52. Plate 57 is in an
intermediate position in this heating chamber. Bag 50 is equipped
with a snap fastener 58 to secure it in position on the golf
buggy.
The golf bag 60 in FIG. 5 is generally similar to the golf bags in
FIGS. 1 and 2 except that a chemical-type heater is employed. In
this case the lower end of the bag contains a liquid chamber 61 in
which the lower ends of tubes 20 and 22 are immersed as shown.
These tubes are sealed in openings in a plate 62 and the lower ends
of all the tubes are closed. Chamber 61 contains a quantity of
water into which pellets are dropped through a tube 63. The pellets
are of a conventional chemical composition to produce an exothermic
reaction on contact with water which raises the temperature of the
water and heats the lower ends of the tubes 20 and 22. This type of
heater requires no external power supply so the bag 60 may be
carried on the shoulder, on a pull cart as shown in FIG. 1 or on a
motorized golf buggy if desired.
* * * * *