JP2022506619A - Golf grip with advanced texture - Google Patents

Abstract

Flexible grips for golf clubs, in one version, have sharp grooves on either or both of the inner and outer surfaces to improve grip. In another version, either or both of the inner and outer surfaces may be textured by peaks and valleys with radii less than 0.2 mm. In another version, either or both of the inner and outer surfaces may have a textured surface with ridges having a height of less than 0.3 mm. In another version, either or both of the inner and outer surfaces may have a microtexture with a raised portion having a cross-sectional width of 0.3 mm or less and a height of about twice the cross-sectional width. In another version, the wall of the grip has a void or hollow space for an improved cushion of the user's grip. [Selection diagram] FIG. 5

Description

The present disclosure relates to flexible grips used for handles of equipment intended to move or swing at high speed and force, such as sledgehammers, axes, and sports equipment such as tennis rackets and golf clubs. The present disclosure relates specifically to flexible grips that are made of an elastomeric material and are intended for shafts of golf clubs.

Historically, golf club grips have a textured outer surface to increase grip and provide local compression or "cushion" to accommodate the contact pressure of the user's fingers and palm when gripping the club. It had a processed part. Such textured portions contained recessed regions that could have portions extending across the vertical axis of the grip or at deflection angles including configurations such as spiral or helical grooves.

The grip texture can also be a raised portion. These raised portions can be ridges or domes or pillars.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, an example of a prior art golf club grip is shown by 5 as a whole and a textured portion shown as a cross-shaped recess shown by 1 and 2, as well as 3. It has a parallel spiral groove indicated by. In particular, with reference to FIG. 3, the recess 2 of the cross is shown in an enlarged view, the edge of which is formed by a gap in a groove extending laterally or radially as indicated by reference number 4. The grip is of the type formed with the open end shown on the left side of FIG. 1 and the substantially closed end on the left distal side.

FIG. 4 is another example of the prior art showing a raised portion. These portions can be raised circles or squares, or any cross-sectional shape. The height of the raised portion may be in the range of 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm and the diameter may be in the range of 0.5 mm to 1.0 mm. The ridge can also be a ridge that projects circumferentially, longitudinally, or in a spiral fashion around the grip.

Referring to FIG. 6, another prior art version of the golf club grip is textured as a whole, also indicated by reference number 6 in the form of a V-shaped recess or groove. Has a surface.

The existing manufacture of such elastomer grips for golf clubs uses molding by either compression or injection and is therefore a reverse image plane for forming a textured surface on the molded grip. Requires the formation of a mold with. Currently, metal machining techniques limit the composition of textured surfaces.

To date, the formation of textured surfaces on grips has provided a wide range of performance benefits. Such an advantage is a local "cushion" or repulsive force under the user's grip to enhance the contact area between the user's palm and fingers and the grip, ie when moving at high speed during compression, downswing. The slip resistance between the grip and the hand, as well as the adhesive force of the inner surface of the grip to the shaft. Therefore, it is desirable to provide these performance benefits with a grip texture that provides improved performance.

The present disclosure describes the improvement in grip texture made possible by advanced tool making techniques.

The present disclosure provides an improved tubular elastomer grip for equipment, especially for golf clubs, and formed with open and substantially closed ends. One version disclosed includes a groove or recess formed on the outer surface, the outer surface having a recess or a side portion of the groove, the side portion by an undercut or acute angle formed with the sidewall of the recess. Form a sharp edge with the surface of the grip.

In another version, the groove or recess can be formed with substantially parallel walls and tilted with respect to the axis of the grip so that sharp edges from sharp undercuts are provided on the surface of the grip. The sharp edges are oriented towards the club head to provide an enhanced grip engagement with the user's fingers and palm, and also provide improved local "cushion" or compressibility in the radial direction. To provide improved surface contact with the user's hand.

In another version of the disclosed grip, the tubular elastomeric member comprises an undercut groove formed on the inner circumference of the grip, a portion of which engages the surface of the instrument handle for improved radial compressibility or. It provides a "cushion", allowing the local deformation of the grip to adapt to the user's hand, thereby enhancing the grip.

Another version uses ridges to provide slip resistance, creating edges that engage the skin of the hand and resist slipping. So far, these textures have been limited to overall dimensions of width and height of about 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm. To increase slip resistance, it is desirable to reduce the size of the texture to less than 0.3 mm and therefore increase the number of edges and geometries. The outside or inside of the grip is defined to have a raised portion having a cross section of 0.3 mm or less, or a height proportionally about twice as large, and thus a diameter with a height of 0.6 mm. May have texture. The ratio of diameter to height can vary as well as the spacing of the ridges.

In another version, the raised portion may contain a rough or sharp texture and may be accompanied by a crest with a radius of less than 0.2 mm. Valleys between mountains can also be provided with angles with radii less than 0.2 mm. The distance between mountains and valleys can vary. Longer distances increase the flexibility or "cushion" of the ridges.

In another version, microtextures can be formed on the inner surface of the grip. The microtexture offers the advantage of dry adhesiveness and can allow the grip to be attached to the club shaft without the need for double-sided tape.

In another version, the grips of the present disclosure are formed with enclosed voids or hollow spaces within the walls of tubular members to provide improved local radial grip compressibility or "cushion". Increase grip. The grips of the present disclosure can be formed by laser processing or additive manufacturing (AM), also known as "3D printing".

It is a perspective view of the flexible grip used in the prior art.

It is an enlarged view of a part of FIG.

It is sectional drawing which cut along the sectional | cross-section instruction line 3-3 of FIG.

It is sectional drawing which shows the raised part.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of one version of the grips of the present disclosure showing the undercut voids of the grooves formed therein.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another version cut in part to show the V-shaped groove used in prior art grips.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 6 of another version of the grip of the present disclosure showing the undercut sidewall of the groove.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another version of the grips of the present disclosure showing textured portions in the form of raised vertices with arcuate vertices.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view cut through the vertical axis of another version of the grip of the present disclosure, with a groove on the inner circumference having an undercut sidewall.

Similar to FIG. 9, showing another version of the grip of the present disclosure having a closed void or space formed within the wall of a tubular member.

Another of the grips of the present disclosure, indicating a groove in a textured portion, one outer wall edge having a groove with parallel sides angled with respect to the outer surface to form an acute angle with the outer surface. It is a cross-sectional view of a part of a version.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the surface of the grip showing the microtexture of the raised portion.

Referring to FIG. 5, a portion of one version of the flexible grip disclosed herein is exemplified by a cross section cut laterally to its length, represented by 10 as a whole, and also an opening. A type formed of a tubular member 11 having an end (not shown) and a substantially closed end (not shown). The cross section is shown in part and has an outer surface 12 thereof, the outer surface comprising a groove 14 having its sides 16 and 18 forming acute angles disposed opposite to the surface 12 of the grip at the outer edge. , Has a textured part. Thus, when the user grips the elastomer grip 10, the sharp edges on the sides of the undercut groove bend somewhat inward, resulting in local "cushion" deformation and an improved surface with the user's hand. Allowing to provide contact, the sharp edges also provide greater grip in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the device, especially when gripping a golf club.

FIG. 7 shows another version of the flexible grips of the present disclosure represented by 20 as a whole, which uses the undercut groove 22 at a deflection angle or grips thereof with side walls 24, 26. Has a spiral or helical configuration, thereby providing increased local "cushion" or compressibility and also improving club grip by the user.

Referring to FIG. 8, another version of the flexible grips of the present disclosure, as shown by 30 as a whole, comprises and improves a plurality of adjacent raised ridges and valleys formed on the outer surface of the tubular member 31. It has a textured portion with its vertices indicated by reference number 32 formed in a radius to provide the grip. The height of the adjacent peaks in the radial direction with respect to the tubular member can vary as desired. In this practice, it has been found that it is sufficient to have peak and valley radii in the range 0.02 to 0.2 mm. It will be appreciated that adjacent ridges can have different heights to improve grip.

Referring to FIG. 9, another version of the flexible grip of the present disclosure, as shown by 50 as a whole, has a tubular member 52 thereof for engaging with the handle of an instrument such as a golf club shaft. It is formed with a plurality of longitudinally spaced annular or spirally wound grooves, represented by two different widths 54, 56, formed on the inner circumference 62. The grooves 54, 56 have side portions 58, 60 in their undercuts, each of which is inclined to form an acute angle with the inner circumference 62 of the tubular member. Accordingly, the grooves 54, 56 provide improved "cushion" or compressibility in the radial direction within a local region of the longitudinal direction of the grip to improve surface contact between the user's hand and the grip.

Referring to FIG. 10, another version of the flexible grip of the present disclosure is represented by 70 as a whole, has a tubular member 72 made of an elastomeric material, with an inner circumference and is represented by reference number 74. It has voids or spaces, or pockets formed in rows extending longitudinally in the middle of the perimeter, spaced apart and enclosed in the longitudinal direction. Thus, the space 74 or void provides a local thinning of the wall of the tubular member 72, allowing for improved local "cushioning" or compression in the radial direction, thereby with the user's hand. Increases surface contact area and improves grip.

Referring to FIG. 11, another version of the grips of the present disclosure is represented by 80 as a whole and has a textured portion on its outer surface 82 including at least one groove 84 having its sides 86, 88. The tubular members 81 are provided, the grooves are arranged in parallel, angled with respect to the vertical axis of the grip, and the outer edges thereof are opposed to each other to form an acute angle with the outer surface of the grip. It has one of the edges 86. The side portion 86 of the groove is oriented and arranged on the surface of the grip so that the angled outer edge of the side portion 86 is directed toward the club head of the golf club grip to enhance grip by the user's hand. Intended to be. The angled side portion 86 also provides improved compressibility and deformation or "cushion" around the club when the user grips the club to improve the surface contact area.

Referring to FIG. 12, another version of the grip texture, represented by 40 as a whole, having a microtexture on its surface is shown, with each ridge typically represented by 42 having a diameter of less than 0.3 mm, and. It is a cylinder with a height proportional to the diameter, in the range of 2 to 5 times the diameter. The distance between the cylinders is about 2 to 5 times the diameter of the cylinder. This microtexture can vary in diameter, height, and spacing. Microtextures can be present on the outer surface of the grip, the inner surface of the grip, or both.

In this practice, various versions of the above elastomer grips are formed by laser machining or additive manufacturing (AM), also known as "3D printing", using progressive deposition of incremental layers of elastomeric material. I found that it was quick. This process can achieve as small a radius of 0.2 mm as previously unobtainable, in particular undercut grooves and enclosed voids as shown in FIGS. 7, 10, 11 and 12. Suitable for versions with hollow spaces.

The elastomeric grips of the present disclosure utilize the recesses of the undercut to form a textured portion on the outer surface of the grip to provide locally improved "cushion", compressibility, or deformation in the radial direction. Provides a version for, especially for golf club grips. Another version provides improved local "cushion" and compressibility by providing an undercut groove on the inner circumference that contacts the handle of the device or golf club shaft.

Touring can also be produced by laser machining or additive manufacturing, such as 3D printing. Both methods allow the resolution required to generate microtextures or touring undercuts.

Exemplary embodiments have been described and illustrated with reference to the drawings. By reading the detailed explanations above, it is clear that improvements and changes will come to mind for others. Exemplary embodiments are intended to be construed as including all such improvements and modifications, as long as they fall within the scope of the appended claims or their equivalents.

Claims (11)

A flexible grip for handles that move instruments fast and powerfully manually.
(A) A tubular member made of an elastomeric material having an open end and a substantially closed end distal to the open end.
(B) At least one textured portion formed on the surface of the tubular member between the open end and the substantially closed end, textured with an acute undercut. With a flexible grip. The grip according to claim 1, wherein the textured portion comprises a recess having a cross-shaped configuration. The grip according to claim 1, wherein the textured portion includes a spiral groove. The grip according to claim 1, further comprising an undercut groove formed in one of (i) an inner circumference and (ii) an outer circumference of the tubular member. The grip according to claim 1, wherein the textured portion is formed on one of (i) the inner surface, (ii) the outer surface, and (iii) the inner surface and the outer surface. The grip according to claim 1, wherein the textured portion has a plurality of raised peaks and valleys having a radius in the range of 0.02 mm to 0.2 mm. The grip according to claim 1, wherein the textured portion has a plurality of raised peaks and valleys having a radius of less than 0.3 mm. A flexible grip for golf club shafts,
(A) A tubular member made of an elastomeric material having an open end and a substantially closed end distal to the open end.
(B) The outer surface, (ii) the inner surface, and (iii) having a cross-sectional width of 0.3 mm or less and having a raised portion having a height in the range of 2 to 5 times the width. A flexible grip comprising a microtexture formed on one of the inner and outer surfaces. The grip according to claim 8, wherein the raised portions are separated by a distance in the range of 2 to 5 times the cross-sectional width. A flexible grip for golf club shafts,
(A) A tubular member made of an elastomeric material having an open end and a substantially closed end distal to the open end.
(B) A flexible grip comprising a closed void formed in the tubular member between its inner and outer circumferences to provide a cushion when the user grips it. 10. The grip of claim 10, further comprising a plurality of axially spaced voids.

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