EP1437161A1

EP1437161A1 - Cleaning device for golf clubs

Info

Publication number: EP1437161A1
Application number: EP20030000311
Authority: EP
Inventors: Salvatore Sparta'
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-01-09
Filing date: 2003-01-09
Publication date: 2004-07-14

Abstract

On the cart carrying the bag, there is assembled a device which comprises a rotating brush (3), driven by a speed reducer (1, 101) with a small electric motor which is fed by the battery (B) of the same cart, or by an own battery. To said brush may be associated a cleaning liquid supplier (5, 6, 7, 107), which is activated by a relative control, and/or in automatic and temporised manner. By acting on the activation command of the rotation speed reducer of the brush and by moving near to the brush the dirty club, it is possible to quickly clean this latter in a simple manner and without dirtying the golf player.

Description

Golf players, when playing on muddy and loose fields, must clean with a certain frequency the clubs, and for this operation they use pieces of cloth which they carry on the cart used for the transport of the golf bag with the clubs and, in case of very obstinate dirt, they also spray the club and/or the cloth with a jet of water taken from a small container placed in a pocket of the golf bag or otherwise placed on the cart. It is evident that this operation is fastidious and problematic also due to the fact that it implies the dirtying of the hands.
Object of the invention is to eliminate this drawback, with the following solution. On the cart carrying the bag, there is assembled a small device which comprises at least a rotating brush, driven by a speed reducer with a small electric motor, which may be fed by means of the battery of the same cart, or by an own battery. To said brush may be, if required, associated a cleaning liquid supplier, which may be activated for example with an own command. By acting on the activation command of the speed reducer for the rotation of the brush and moving near to it the dirty club, it is possible to quickly clean this latter in a simple manner and without dirtying oneself.
Further features of the invention, and the advantages deriving therefrom, will appear better evident from the following description of a preferred embodiment, made, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the figures of the attached sheet of drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows in perspective a golf cart provided with the cleaning device;
Fig 2 shows details of the cleaning device longitudinally sectioned;
Fig 3 shows further details of the cleaning device, transversally sectioned along the line III-III of Figure 2.

In Figure 1 there is illustrated a kind of cart used in the golf game for carrying the bag S with the clubs, provided with a frame T usually made of steel, having the shape of an inverted T, provided at the upper end with a guide handlebar M and provided, at the end of the lower axle, with wheels R which are motorised by a little speed reducer MT fed by a battery B. By means of the interface N, the portions B and MT are connected to a control box C placed at the level of said handlebar M.
According to the invention, on the frame T of the cart as from Figure 1 or on carts of any type used for playing golf, for example on a tube of the guide handlebar of said cart, there is assembled in fixed position or with a variable arrangement (see further), a small rotation unit 1 which comprises a speed reducer with an electric motor which may be fed by the equipment battery B of the cart, or by an own rechargeable or replaceable battery and which may be activated or de-activated by means of a command placed for example in the box C or in other suitable position (see further). On the shaft of the rotation unit 1 or on an extension of said shaft, there is removably keyed at least a cylindrical brush 3, which may be partially protected by a housing 4. With the activation of the group 1, the brush 3 rotates at a correct speed and in the correct direction so that by causing it to interfere with the dirty portion of the club Z (Fig. 2), this latter is quickly cleaned in a practical manner. Over the brush 3, on the housing 4 or in other suitable position, there may be mounted a nozzle 5 connected by means of a tube 6 to a small motor-driven pump 7 connected to a small tank 107, preferably of transparent plastics, fixed for example to the upright of the frame T and which contains, with possibility of re-filling, a small amount of water and/or any other suitable cleaning liquid. The small pump 7 can be actuated by means of a specific control placed for example in the panel C or in other suitable position, so that only in the case of very obstinate dirt it is possible to spray the brush 3 with a small jet of cleaning liquid, which facilitates the removal of the dirt from the club Z. The brush 3 is provided with bristles which are flexible and is shaped with a recessed central portion 103, in such a manner to touch a wide surface of the club in order to make a strong and distributed cleaning action of same, to remove from the said club every trace of mud or of any other kind of dirt. According to a constructive variation, the cleaning device may comprise a second rotating brush 2 for example abreast of the brush 3 above mentioned (Fig. 2), which is made with bristles of soft and absorbent material, for example with strips of deerskin or other suitable synthetic material, in such a manner to perform a finish-cleaning of the club, with the removal of every trace of liquid or fluidified dirt and with substantial polishing of the same club.
From Figures 2 and 3 it is noted that the rotation unit 1 comprises a speed reducer 101 for example of the type used in the battery-fed drills or screwdrivers, which is housed in a casing 201, made for example of plastics, formed by two complementary shells which are locked between them by means of screws 301. Numeral 401 indicates the screws which secure the speed reducer 101 onto the end of the casing 201 which is open for the passing of the shaft which carries screwed the brush 3. The unit 101 presents an opposite portion of the casing 201, in which there is housed a small electric circuit 8 which interfaces the unit 101 with timing means, with a general switch 9 and a proximity switch 10, said last means being housed in suitable seats of the casing 201 which is also provided with an opening 11 for the passage of the electric cable for the connection to the battery B of the cart. Switch 9 controls the operation of the device, which automatically is activated each time the club to be cleaned is moved near the proximity switch 10. After a time interval determined by the timing circuit placed in the interface 8, the device stops automatically. It is to be understood that the device may be pre-arranged in such a manner that by acting on a control placed at any suitable position, the brush is sprayed in a completely automatic manner with a correct amount of liquid delivered by the group 5, 6, 7, 107, the functioning of which will be opportunely timed.
When the device is used, the same is preferably in horizontal position, as shown in Figure 3 and as indicated in Figure 1 with continuous line. If this position obstructs the possibility of reducing the frame of the cart or it constitutes an obstruction for other reasons, there is provided to mount the device on the frame with the possibility to swing about a perpendicular or orthogonal axis with respect to the longitudinal axis of the said device, in such a manner that it can be oriented according the longitudinal axis of the frame T, as shown in Figure 1 with dotted line. For this purpose, as shown in the detail of Figure 2, one of the pieces of the casing 201 carries, at the rotation unit 101, a perpendicular seat 12 having a prismatic or not-round shape, in which there is housed the conjugated-shape head of a screw 13 which with its stem comes out perpendicularly from the body 201 and passes through the axial hole of the overlapped disks of a frontal coupling 14, the disk 14' of which is shaped in such a manner to match the shape of the body 201 and to couple with this, while the other disk 14" presents on the outer front an axial seat 15 in which there is housed a self-locking nut screwed on the screw 13 with the interposition of cup washers 17. By these means, the disks 14' and 14" result to be clutch coupled, with the possibility to effect a small relative axial displacement, in contrast with the elasticity of the washers 17 and this for the reasons to be explained later.
The seat 15 is externally open with a portion which is perpendicular to the screw 13 which has a V shape, in such a manner to house in the same a portion of the tube of the frame T of the cart, on which the said disk 14" is fixed with jaws 18, 18' which present their inner sides suitably concave in order to match the convexity of the tube T, which are articulated to the disk 14" at 19, 19' and which are closed the one against the other by their free ends, by means of a screw clamp 20. Always from Figure 2 it appears that the disk 14' is provided with one or more balls 21, for example with four balls equispaced of 90°, which with their small projecting portion engage corresponding recesses of the consecutive face of the adjacent disk 14", the whole in such a manner that by grasping the body 201 it is possible to rotate same of ninety degrees and to firmly place it in horizontal or vertical position.
It is to be understood that to the invention as described, may be brought numerous constructive variations and modifications, which can refer, for example, to the shape of the brushes, which may be different from the illustrated cylindrical shape, in such a manner to permit the cleaning of the less exposed points of the club. For example, it is possible the use of a composite and internally hollow brush, carrying on its inner portion the roughing-out bristles and on its outer portion the finishing bristles. Another embodiment could refer, for example, to the fact that the brushes may be arranged during their utilisation with their axis which is not horizontal, for example vertically or with any other orientation.
The device may be placed at any point of the cart, also different from the one shown. The housing 4 may be provided with lower means for the collection and the removal of the dirt and may be shaped in such a manner to allow the greater possible visibility of the club during the cleaning phase. According to a further embodiment, the tank 107 with the pump may have a flat, extended shape and can be integrated with the housing 4, or it can even form the housing, in such a manner that the device presents a compact conformation.

Claims

A cleaning device for golf clubs, to be mounted upon a cart used for carrying the clubs, characterised by comprising:

a small rotation unit (1) with a speed reducer (101) the electric motor of which can be actuated by a suitable control and can be fed by the battery of the cart or by an own rechargeable or replaceable battery;

means (4) to arrange the said rotation unit (1) at any suitable point of the frame (T) of the cart, with a fixed disposition or with a variable orientation;

at least a rotating brush (3) arranged to be activated by said rotation unit (1) and in a position for use such that the club (Z), being caused to bear onto said brush, is cleaned by the rotating action by the shape and by the suitable material of the said brush.
Device according to claim 1, in which the brush (3) is removably keyed, for example screwed on the shaft or upon an extension of the shaft of the speed reducer (101) of the rotation unit (1).
Device according to claim 1, in which the brush is partially protected by a housing (4) fixed on the casing (201) of the rotation unit (1).
Device according to claim 3, in which at the level of the brush (3) there may be arranged a nozzle (5) mounted on the housing (4) and which with a tube (6) is connected to a small motor-driven pump (7) connected to a small tank (107) preferably of transparent or translucent plastics, inside which there is contained a sufficient amount of water and/or other cleaning fluid, a manual and/or automatic and temporized control unit being provided to activate said motor-driven pump to spray a jet of cleaning liquid onto the brush (3).
Device according to claim 4, in which the tank (107) is placed and secured onto the housing (4), or it constitutes itself the housing.
Device according to one or more of the preceding claims, in which the said rotation unit (1) activates a second rotating brush (2) made with bristles of soft and absorbent material, for example with strips of deerskin or equivalent material, to allow a finishing action in the cleaning of the clubs.
Device according to claim 6, in which the finishing brush (2) is placed laterally to the roughing brush (3), in axial or radial direction.
Device according to claim 3, in which the casing (201) of the rotation unit (1) is made by two superimposed shells, reciprocally fixed with screws (301) and inside of which there is housed the speed reducer (101) fixed with screws (401) housed in seats provided at the end of said casing, which is open and is traversed by the shaft upon which there is mounted the cleaning brush (3), said casing being externally, integrally and in middle position provided with a disk (14') coupled with possibility of snap rotation about an axis (13) perpendicular or orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the device, by means of front couplings (21) and axial spring means (17), to another disk (14") diametrically carrying a seat (15) with an outer V shape, which is secured onto the tube of the frame (T) of the cart by means of a pair of jaws (18, 18') articulated at diametrically opposed points (19, 19') of said disk, which with their inner sides having a concave shape surround said tube and are fixed to this with a screw clamp (20), the whole in such a manner that the device may be oriented to any suitable work or rest position.
Device according to claim 8, in which a portion of the casing (201) of the rotation unit (1), opposed to the portion which houses the speed reducer (101), is used for housing means (8) which allow the temporized activation of said rotation unit by means of a proximity switch (10) which is sensitive to the nearing of the club to be cleaned, said means being connected to the electrical feeding circuit by means of a general switch (9) which is mounted in a suitable seat arranged in said casing (201).