Reversible golf club holder

Abstract

A reversible golf club holder for use with a display rack in which the holder is adapted to hold either a left handed or right handed golf club wood in an inverted position. The holder consists of a club interface attached to the top of a shaft support and a bracket. An inverted golf club head is supported by the club interface, and the shaft of the golf club is oriented in a preferred alignment by the shaft support. The shaft support comprises at least one lug that releasably attaches to a receptacle of the bracket. Separate lugs are used depending on if the club is right handed or left handed, which ensures that each type of club is in the preferred alignment. Multiple brackets can be attached to the same display rack allowing multiple golf clubs to be displayed on the same rack.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation-in-part of pending design patent application No. 29/253,399, filed Feb. 2, 2006 entitled “Reversible Golf Club Holder” to the same inventors for which benefit is claimed under 35 U.S.C. § 120.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a reversible golf club holder and more particularly to a reversible golf club holder useful for selectively displaying either a right handed or left handed golf club wood in a preferred orientation in retail stores, trade show booths, pro shops, and the like.

2. Description of Related Art

Many types of golf club display racks and golf club holders are known in the prior art. Most of the prior art display racks hold the club in an inverted position but do not assure uniform orientation of the golf club head or uniform angles of the shafts, both of which are visually unappealing. If the clubs are not properly supported, the club heads and shafts will not be aligned uniformly, particularly after clubs are removed, handled and returned to the display rack.

Other display racks support the club head in an inverted position with the golf club head in a preferred alignment but cannot be used for both right handed and left handed golf clubs. It is therefore desirable to have a golf club holder for use with a display rack in which the same holder can support either right handed or left handed golf club woods in a desired orientation with respect to the display rack.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is for a golf club holder for use with a display rack in which the holder is adapted to hold either a left handed or right handed golf club “wood” in an inverted position. As used herein, “wood” is used to differentiate such clubs from “irons” and is understood to include club heads whether made of wood, metal or combinations thereof. The holder is designed such that the golf club is held in a particular orientation so that the writing on the bottom of the head can easily be read. The holder consists of three main parts: the club interface, the shaft support, and the bracket. All three parts of the holder are made of moldable plastic. The club interface is attached on top of the shaft support. The shaft support has two lugs that are spaced laterally apart and either one can be snapped into the bracket. One lug is used if the club is right handed, and the other is used if the club is left handed. The bracket is then attached to a display rack. Multiple club holders can be attached to the same display rack, which allows for orderly display of multiple clubs.

The club interface is contoured to accept and support the head portion of a golf club wood when the wood is in an inverted position. The club interface is generally concave. The club interface has an outwardly facing elongated slot to allow the shaft portion of a golf club to pass through. A lip extends upward on the terminal edges of the contoured concave surface to support the club head and prevent it from rotating. The club interface is shaped such that it will hold and support either a right handed or left handed golf club wood in only one preferred orientation.

The club interface sits on top of and is attached to the shaft support. The shaft support is a hollow tube having an elongated open slot on one side, that is open for about one quarter of the circumference. This opening corresponds to the opening in the club interface. Once the club is resting on the club interface, the shaft of the club sits inside of and is supported by the shaft support. Two lugs are on the outside of the shaft support. The lugs are spaced about seventy degrees apart.

One of the lugs on the support shaft is then snapped into the bracket. One of the lugs is used for a right handed club and the other lug is used for a left handed club, which means the same club holder can be used for either type of club. The bracket is shaped such that the support shaft is snapped onto one side of the bracket and the other side of the bracket has means for attaching to a display rack.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The apparatus of the invention is further described and explained in relation to the following figures of the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded top perspective view showing how the club interface, support shaft and bracket fit together on a display rack;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the club interface and the support shaft of the reversible golf club holder;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bracket of the reversible golf club holder;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the club interface taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the club interface taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of the reversible golf club holder attached to a display rack in its right handed configuration holding a right handed golf wood shown in phantom outline; and

FIG. 7 is a top perspective view of the reversible golf club holder attached to a display rack in its left handed configuration holding a left handed golf club wood shown in phantom outline.

Like reference numerals are used to describe like parts in all figures of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, a reversible golf club holder 10 preferably comprises club interface 12, shaft support 14 and bracket 16. Reversible golf club holder is preferably molded from a durable plastic, but other rigid, lightweight materials are also acceptable.

Club interface 12 has a compound curve and is contoured to accept the inverted head of a golf club wood and to “steer” it into a singular preferred angular orientation. Club interface 12 has lip 13, which prevents a golf club head from rotating. Club interface 12 is glued or ultrasonically welded to shaft support 14. Shaft support 14 is generally cylindrical in shape and has two mounting lugs 20 and 24 extending outwardly from it. In the preferred embodiment, mounting lugs 20, 24 are preferably each trapezodially shaped, so that the lugs become wider the further they extend from the shaft 14. Other lug configurations are also possible as long as the lug is shaped such that it can be received and supported by the receptacle of the bracket. Lug 20 has detent 22 extending outwardly from it, and likewise, lug 24 has detent 26 extending outwardly from it in order to secure and align lugs 20, 24 into receptacle 28 of bracket 16.

Bracket 16 is shaped such that it can receive and support shaft support 14 and also be attached to a display rack 18. Bracket 16 has a receptacle 28, which is correspondingly shaped and sized to receive either lug 20 or lug 24 of shaft support 14. Referring to FIG. 3, receptacle 28 of bracket 16 is shown to have a small recess 36. Small recess 36 accepts detent 22 of lug 20 or detent 26 of lug 24 when shaft support 14 is snapped into bracket 16.

Referring back to FIG. 1, if it is desired to display a right handed golf club, then lug 20 of shaft support 14 is snapped into and frictionally held by recessed section 28 of bracket 16. If it is desired to display a left handed golf club, then lug 24 of shaft support 14 is snapped into and frictionally held by recessed section 28 of bracket 16, which effectively rotates the golf club holder 10. By providing two circumferentially spaced lugs 20 and 24, the same golf club holder 10 can be used to display both right and left handed golf club woods.

In a preferred embodiment, bracket 16 is attached to a display rack 18 by the use of a threaded member 32 passing through hole 34 in bracket 16 and threading into hole 35 in display rack 18. Decorative screw cover 30 can be used to conceal the head of the screw for simple aesthetic purposes. Multiple golf club holders 10 can be attached to the same display rack 10. The shape of display rack 10 is not important to the ability of the golf club holder 10 to be used with it. However, in the preferred embodiment, the display rack 10 is a straight bar, which allows the golf club holders to be aligned in a straight line.

Referring to FIG. 2, club interface 12 and shaft support 14 are shown. Club interface 12 has terminal edges 15 present, which comprise an opening 17, as club interface 12 does not comprise a completely enclosed circular cross section. Opening 17 is present to allow for a golf club shaft to be inserted as a club is being placed onto club interface 12.

Lug 20 for use with right handed clubs and lug 24 and detent 26 for use with left handed clubs are shown. Shaft support 14 is generally cylindrical in shape, but shaft support 14 does not comprise a completely closed cross section. Shaft support 14 has inner wall 38 and outer wall 42, and connecting wall 40 connects inner wall 38 and outer wall 42. This creates an opening 44 in shaft support 14, which allows the shaft of a golf club to inserted and supported by shaft support 14.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the club interface 12 is shown in cross section. Club interface 12 has a lip 13 protruding upwards at its terminal edges. Lip 13 ensures the club head does not rotate when the head is placed onto club interface 12. The lack of rotation ensures that the head will always be in the desired alignment.

Referring to FIG. 6, reversible golf club holder 10 is shown in its right handed golf club holding position. Right handed golf club 46 is shown being held in its inverted position by reversible golf club holder 10. The head of golf club 46 is being supported by club interface 12 and kept from rotation by lip 13. Shaft 47 of right handed golf club 46 is being supported by shaft support 14. Because right handed golf club 46 is being held, lug 20 of shaft support 14 is locked into receptacle 28 of bracket 16. Bracket 16 is attached to display rack 18.

Referring to FIG. 7, reversible golf club holder 10 is shown in its left handed golf club holding position. Left handed golf club 48 is shown being held in its inverted position by reversible golf club holder 10. The head of golf club 48 is being supported by club interface 12 and kept from rotation by lip 13. Shaft 49 of left handed golf club 48 is being supported by shaft support 14. Because left handed golf club 48 is being held, lug 24 of shaft support 14 is locked into receptacle 28 of bracket 16. Bracket 16 is attached to display rack 18.

The golf club holder in the preferred embodiment is designed to hold a golf club wood. However, one of ordinary skill in the art could easily adapt the invention to hold a golf club iron in preferred alignment simply by shaping the club interface to contour to the inverted head of an iron rather than a wood. The location of the lugs on the shaft support determines the rotational orientation of the club relative to the bracket, and the location of the lugs could easily changed to achieve the desired alignment for an iron.

Other alterations and modifications of the invention will likewise become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the present disclosure, and it is intended that the scope of the invention disclosed herein be limited only by the broadest interpretation of the appended claims to which the inventors are legally entitled.

Claims

1. A reversible golf club holder comprising:

a club interface, said club interface being attached to a hollow tubular shaft support, said shaft support having an outer wall and an inner wall and having at least one lug extending outwardly from the outer wall;

a bracket attachable to a display rack and a receptacle capable of receiving and supporting said lug of said shaft support;

wherein a golf club comprising a head and a shaft, is supported in an inverted position by the club interface and the shaft support, and the shaft support is attached to and supported by the bracket through a friction fit between a lug of the shaft support and the receptacle of the bracket.

2. The reversible golf club holder of claim 1 wherein the shaft support has a plurality of lugs extending outwardly from the outer wall.

3. The reversible golf club holder of claim 2 wherein the plurality of lugs are circumferentially spaced on the shaft support.

4. The reversible golf club holder of claim 3 wherein two lugs are spaced approximately seventy degrees apart from each other.

5. The reversible golf club holder of claim 1 wherein the lugs are trapezoidal in shape.

6. The reversible golf club holder of claim 1 wherein the receptacle is shaped to receive and slidably engage a lug.

7. The reversible golf club holder of claim 1 wherein the club interface is contoured to receive and support the head of a golf club in a preferred orientation.

8. The reversible golf club holder of claim 1 wherein the club interface is contoured to receive and support the head of a golf club wood in a preferred orientation.

9. The reversible golf club holder of claim 1 wherein the club interface has a compound curved cross section.

10. The reversible golf club holder of claim 1 wherein the club interface has an outside edge with an upwardly projecting lip encircling the outside edge, wherein the lip prevents the club head from rotating.

11. The reversible golf club holder of claim 1 wherein the lug on the shaft support has a small detent that engages a small recess in the receptacle of the bracket.

12. The reversible golf club holder of claim 1 wherein the bracket is attachable to the display rack with a threaded member insertable through a hole in the bracket and threaded into a corresponding hole in the display rack.

13. The reversible golf club holder of claim 1 wherein the club interface, the shaft support and the bracket are made of moldable plastic.