Americana is taking advantage of the increase in leisure time afforded by modern living standards and in particular Americans are enjoying the game of golf. Many golfers use the motorized golf cart which comes in to basic forms being the electric motor driven cart or the internal combustion engine driven cart. Many of these carts have found use off of the golf course as a utility vehicle. These carts can be found in retirement communities where they are used by retired people for simple transportation within the community and for shopping expeditions within the same community. Many large apartment complexes use this utility vehicle to take prospective clients on a tour of their facility and many such complexes use these carts to transport their maintenance personnel and tools. Similarly other Americans have found the golf cart to be an extremely useful utility vehicle.
The golf cart generally comes in two forms; a two passenger vehicle, where the passengers sit in front next to each other with one of them serving as the driver and a rear section that is designed strictly to hold a pair of golf club bags; or a four (plus) vehicle, where two passengers, one still acting as the driver, sit in the front and the other passengers sit in the back, usually facing backward. The two passenger vehicle is the most common, mainly because it holds golf club bags; technically the four (plus) passenger vehicle is a two passenger vehicle with the golf club bag portion permanently removed and a rearward facing bench seat in its place.
Many owners of the two passenger models have converted their vehicles to four (plus) vehicles by removing the golf club bag holders and permanently bolting a rearward facing seat in its place. Other owners have converted these golf carts to cargo carriers by removing the golf club bag holder(s) and permanently bolting a cargo compartment in place. Basically the two passenger golf cart is being converted into a utility vehicle by a number of users. There are several drawbacks with the four passenger (plus) vehicle, the converted two passenger to four passenger vehicle and the converted two passenger to cargo vehicle. One drawback is that they can no longer be used as a standard golf cart. Another drawback, in the case of the four passenger vehicle with the passengers facing backward, it is difficult to can), on a conversation between the forward and rearward facing passengers. However, the main drawback for the four passenger cart is safety; there have been numerous incidents where the rear passengers slid off the bench seat and were injured. This problem has been partially solved by using a safety belt; the question remains as to how many "sports" passengers will use the belts.
The inventor has devised an apparatus which consists of three interrelated concepts and can be attached to a two passenger golf cart without any permanent damage, to the cart, by using existing holes on the cart. The invention consists of a vehicle body unit that provides additional seating for a total of three passengers plus a driver, that readily converts to a cargo carrier, and readily returns to the golf cart mode in that the cart can store and transport golf club bags as originally envisioned by the manufacturer of the cart. The invention includes a second apparatus which allows the original golf club bag holder to move out of the way while the cart is being used for cargo or extra passengers and allows the golf club bag holder to swivel back into its original position when the vehicle is returned to regular golf cart mode. And the invention provides for a canopy over the rear section which is designed to be attached only to the passenger/cargo carrier unit of the instant invention and does not interfere with other available accessories offered by the original manufacturer or other after market manufacturers. The canopy will protect the rear section passengers, cargo, or golf clubs.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds