JP5583347B2 - Silicon grip for golf club and method of forming the grip - Google Patents

Description

[Cross-reference to related applications]
This application claims priority to US Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 761,465, filed January 24, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[Field of the Invention]
The present invention relates generally to grips, and more particularly to grips for golf clubs.

Today, a wide variety including but not limited to golf clubs, tools (such as hammer handles), rackets (handball rackets, badminton rackets, or tennis rackets), bats (baseball or softball), pool cues, umbrellas, fishing rods, etc. In many products, many different types of grips are used. Differential golf club grips formed from molded rubber materials or synthetic plastics are well known in the golf industry. As used herein, the term “slip-on grip” refers to a grip that slides onto a shaft or handle and is secured by an adhesive or the like. The bayonet grip is available in many shapes and forms.

  Conventionally, some characters, patterns, and / or graphics are printed on the golf club grip. For example, many golf club grips include the name of the golf club manufacturer and / or include a logo or symbol and / or include one or more patterns / colors. Plug-in golf club grips can be somewhat difficult to print using conventional methods due to their shape. Also, putter golf club grips for putters can have a fairly irregular shape and form that can make printing difficult. Also, printing on conventional golf club grips can be damaged by wear and weather effects.

  Silicone rubber is used commercially as an alternative to natural rubber products. Silicone rubber has advantageous properties over natural rubber in terms of durability, flexibility over a wide temperature range, and resistance to ozone and UV attack. Due to these superior properties, some golf club manufacturers produce golf clubs with grips formed from silicon. Unfortunately, silicon can be a material that is somewhat difficult to print on using conventional methods.

  Accordingly, a need has arisen for an improved printing method for insert-type golf club grips, particularly silicon grips.

  A golf club grip for a golf club is provided. The grip is an elongated flexible sleeve that plugs onto the shaft of the golf club, silicone ink applied to the sleeve surface to form a printed indication on the surface of the sleeve, and wound around the sleeve against the sleeve. And an elongated flexible panel of silicon material secured together, the printed display is visible through the panel.

  The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are disclosed in this disclosure. It is provided so that the content will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

  Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. In the drawings, the thickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity. Dashed lines indicate optional features or actions unless specifically stated otherwise. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

  The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a, an” and “the” include the plural as well unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Also, the terms “comprises” and / or “comprising” as used herein, the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or parts. Is understood to not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, actions, elements, parts and / or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, expressions such as “X to Y” and “about X to Y” should be construed to include X and Y. As used herein, expressions such as “about X to Y” mean “about X to about Y”. As used herein, expressions such as “from about X to Y” mean “from about X to about Y”.

  Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. In addition, terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and in the related art. It is understood that unless otherwise specified, it should not be interpreted in an ideal or very formal sense. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and / or clarity.

  When an element is referred to as “on top”, “attached to”, “connected to”, “coupled with”, “in contact with”, etc., The element is directly on another element, attached directly to another element, directly connected to another element, directly coupled to another element, or directly to another element It is understood that there may be contact elements or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, an element may be, for example, another element “directly on”, “directly attached to”, “directly connected to”, “directly coupled to”, or When referred to as “in direct contact with”, there are no intervening elements present. Also, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, references to structures or features that are placed “adjacent” to other features have portions that overlap or are located below the adjacent features. May be.

  Spatial relative terms such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper”, etc. May be used herein to describe the relationship of one element or feature to another element or feature, as shown, for ease of explanation. It is understood that spatially relative terms are intended to encompass various directions of the device in use or operation, in addition to the directions depicted in the drawings. For example, if a device in the drawing is inverted, an element described as being “under” or “beenath” of another element or feature may result in Oriented to the feature “over”. Thus, the typical term “under” may encompass both “over” and “under” directions. The device may be oriented in other directions (turned 90 degrees or in other directions) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein will be interpreted accordingly. Also good. Similarly, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “vertical”, “horizontal” and the like are used herein for illustrative purposes only unless specifically indicated otherwise.

  Terms such as “first”, “second” and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, parts, regions, layers, and / or areas, It is understood that parts, regions, layers, and / or areas should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, part, region, layer or area from another element, part, region, layer or area. Accordingly, a “first” element, part, region, layer, or area described below is referred to as a “second” element, part, region, layer, or area without departing from the techniques of the present invention. You can also. The order of operations (or steps) is not limited to the order presented in the claims or drawings unless specifically indicated otherwise.

  Embodiments of the present invention are particularly suitable for use as golf club grips, and specifically refer to it, although embodiments of the present invention require any device / apparatus that requires the use of handgrips, such as tools ( It will be immediately apparent that it can be applied to hammers, ski stocks, rackets, etc.

  Referring initially to FIGS. 1-5, there is shown an elongated flexible sleeve or underlist 10 for a grip according to an embodiment of the present invention configured to be inserted and secured onto a golf club shaft. Has been. The sleeve / underlist 10 has an internal passage 11 configured to receive a golf club shaft. The illustrated sleeve 10 is for a putter, and has a substantially flat and slender front wall portion 13 and a taper structure having a lower end (base end) having an outer periphery smaller than an outer periphery of an upper (front) end. However, golf club grips according to some embodiments of the present invention may be formed for almost any type of golf club, i.e. both putters and so-called "swing grips" for irons and wood. Therefore, the sleeve according to the embodiment of the present invention may have various shapes and forms depending on the type of golf club to which the sleeve is to be attached.

  The illustrated sleeve 10 is formed of an elastic polymer material such as silicon, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, or polyurethane. In one embodiment, the sleeve is a two-part silicone rubber available from, for example, Dow, GE Silicone or Wacker. The sleeve 10 may also comprise a “dual durometer” material in which the hardness of the sleeve material is different in various parts of the sleeve. As known to those skilled in the art, durometer is an international standard for measuring the hardness of rubber, plastic, and other non-metallic materials. The durometer is described in American Materials Testing Association specification ASTM D2240. In one embodiment, the sleeve may have a hardness range of about 50-70 durometer Shore A.

  The illustrated sleeve 10 includes a proximal end 12 and an opposite distal end 14. A nipple 16 is provided at the proximal end 12. The nipple 16 includes an opening 18 communicating with the passage 11, and the golf club shaft is inserted through the opening 18. The illustrated nipple 16 has a tapered outer peripheral wall 20 that forms an outer peripheral slot 22 that is spaced apart from the body of the nipple 16 and faces upward. A cap 24 is installed at the distal end 14, and the cap 24 has an outer peripheral wall portion 26 that is separated from the main body of the cap 24. The outer peripheral wall 26 defines a downwardly facing outer peripheral slot 28 as shown. However, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the illustrated sleeve 10.

  Referring to FIG. 6, a printed display 50 is added to the surface 15 of the sleeve 10 of FIG. The print display 50 is formed by adding silicon ink by any of various methods such as screen printing. Print display 50 may be applied in one or more steps. For example, characters may be added in the first step and then graphics may be added in the second step.

  According to some embodiments of the present invention, the printed indicia 50 may be applied to the flat sleeve material prior to being formed into the illustrated sleeve 10.

  Referring to FIG. 7, there is shown an elongate flexible panel 30 of transparent silicon that is configured to be wound around and secured to the sleeve 10 together to form a golf club grip. ing. The panel may be transparent (clear) or translucent. Panels often have a thickness of about 0.002 to 0.006 inches. The illustrated panel 30 includes opposed first and second surfaces 32, 34, opposed first and second edges 36, 38, and opposed proximal and distal ends 40, 42. As shown, the distal end 42 has a width that is greater than the width of the proximal end 40, and the first and second edges 36, 38 are inclined outwardly toward the distal end 42, thereby causing the sleeve 10 to Is adapted. The illustrated panel 30 has a configuration such that when wound around the sleeve 10, the opposing first and second edges 36, 38 join together to form a longitudinal seam.

  In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second edges 36, 38 of the panel 30 are joined together. Additional silicon may be added to the first and second edges 36,38. When heated, the silicon facilitates cross-linking of the first and second edges 36,38. In the illustrated embodiment, the proximal end 40 of the panel is received in the peripheral slot 22 of the nipple (FIG. 5) and the distal end 42 of the panel is received in the peripheral slot 28 of the cap (FIG. 4).

  Embodiments of the present invention do not require the proximal end 40 of the panel to be placed in the outer peripheral slot 22 of the nipple and the front end 42 of the panel need not be placed in the outer peripheral slot 28 of the cap. According to some embodiments, the panel tip 42 may not extend all the way to the sleeve tip 14 and / or according to some embodiments, the panel proximal end 40 may be the sleeve tip 12. It does not have to extend all the way.

  Flexible panels according to embodiments of the present invention can have any required shape and form depending on the shape and form of the sleeve to which they are to be wound and secured. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated shape and form of the panel 30. Also, the panel 30 has been described as being wound around the sleeve 10, but as an alternative, the panel may be overmolded around the sleeve 10 using conventional overmolding techniques. Good. The panel may have a hardness range of about 5-50 durometer Shore A.

  According to some embodiments of the present invention, the exposed panel surface 32 may be smooth or may include patterns and / or indentations formed in the surface. It will be appreciated that the flexible sleeve 10 may include separate patterns and / or indentations formed therein. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the panel 30 may be transparent, translucent, or may have one or more colors and / or graphics / patterns thereon. The panel 30 is formed from, for example, silicon rubber available from Dow, GE Silicone or Wacker.

  Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown a golf club grip 60 formed by integrally securing the panel 30 of FIG. 7 to the sleeve 10 of FIG. In the illustrated embodiment, the printed display 50 applied to the sleeve surface 15 is visible through the panel 30 secured thereto. The grip 60 may have a total hardness range of about 20-80 durometer shore A.

  Referring to FIG. 9, an operation for forming a grip for a golf club or other article according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown. The flexible sleeve is formed from an elastic material such as rubber or silicone into the shape of a grip for a golf club (block 100).

  The flexible material may be formed into a grip shape in a variety of ways, including but not limited to molding, injection, and the like. Also, the flexible material may be molded to give it an indentation / pattern or may be subjected to other processes.

  Silicon ink is applied to the surface of the flexible sleeve to form a printed display (block 110). Silicon ink components are available from Rhodia Silicone, Dow Corning, and GE Silicone, and may be based on vinyl functionalized polydimethylsiloxane (PMDS). The printed display may include characters, graphics, patterns, colors, etc., and may be applied to the sleeve surface in various ways. According to some embodiments of the present invention, the sleeve material may be printed with silicone ink prior to forming the material into the sleeve (ie, the operation of block 100 and the operation of block 110 are reversed). May be)

  Thereafter, the sleeve is wound by a flexible panel of silicon (block 120). The surface of the flexible panel is in face-to-face contact with the sleeve surface, and the first and second edges of the flexible panel are joined together to form a longitudinal seam. The panel and sleeve are then exposed to a condition sufficient to secure the panel together with the sleeve without the use of adhesive material (block 130).

  For appearance, one or more additional silicon layers may be added to the grip (block 140). Such silicon is available from Dow, GE Silicone and Wacker. For example, one or more additional layers may provide a glossy appearance, a flat appearance, a pattern, wear resistance, UV protection, and the like.

  The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the invention. Although several exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described, as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, exemplary embodiments may be made without substantially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the present invention. Many variations are possible. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, whereupon the equivalents of the claims are also included therein.

1 is a perspective view of a flexible sleeve for a golf club grip according to some embodiments of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view of the flexible sleeve of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the sleeve taken along line 3-3 in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the sleeve taken along line 4-4 in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the sleeve taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 2 is a side view of the flexible sleeve of FIG. 1 having a printed display thereon, according to some embodiments of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 7 is a plan view of a flexible silicon panel configured to be wrapped around and secured to the sleeve of FIG. 6 according to some embodiments of the present invention. 7 is a front view of a golf club grip with the flexible panel of FIG. 7 wound around and secured to the sleeve of FIG. 6 according to some embodiments of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart of operations for forming a grip for a golf club or other article, according to some embodiments of the present invention.

Claims (13)

An elongated flexible sleeve that plugs onto the shaft of the golf club;
Silicone ink applied to the sleeve surface to form a printed indication on the surface of the sleeve;
An elongated flexible panel of silicon material comprising opposing first and second faces, joined together to define a longitudinal seam and having opposing first and second edges;
An elongated flexible panel of silicon material is wound around the sleeve and secured together to the sleeve without the use of adhesive material ;
A grip for a golf club, wherein the printed display is visible through the panel. Grip according to claim 1, characterized in that it is joined together to form a first and second edge mating relationship of said panel. The grip of claim 2, wherein the first and second edges of the panel are joined together to form a wrap joint.   The grip of claim 1, wherein the sleeve comprises a silicon material.   The grip of claim 1, further comprising a nipple at a proximal end of the sleeve, wherein the nipple includes an outer peripheral slot facing upward, and the proximal end of the panel is received in the slot.   The grip according to claim 1, further comprising a cap at a distal end of the sleeve, wherein the cap includes an outer peripheral slot facing downward, and the front end of the panel is received in the outer peripheral slot. A method of forming a grip for a golf club, comprising:
Applying silicone ink to a surface of a flexible sleeve configured to be inserted over a shaft of a golf club, the silicone ink forming a printed indication on the surface of the sleeve;
Winding a flexible panel of silicon material around the sleeve, wherein a printed display is visible through the flexible panel of silicon material ;
Exposing the panel and the sleeve to a state sufficient to secure the panel together to the sleeve without using an adhesive material;
Winding the flexible panel of silicon material around the flexible sleeve;
Winding the flexible panel of silicon material around the flexible sleeve such that first and second edges of the flexible panel of silicon material are joined together to define a longitudinal seam;
Adding additional silicon to the first and second edges of the flexible panel of silicon material;
Securing the first and second edges of the flexible panel with the additional silicon . The method of claim 7, wherein the flexible sleeve comprises a silicon material. The method of claim 7, wherein the first and second edges are joined in mating relationship to each other. It said first and second edges The method of claim 7, wherein the formed a joint wrap are joined to one another. The flexible sleeve is provided with a facing tip and a proximal end, the panel is provided with a relative tip to the proximal end and proximal end, the nipple having an outer circumferential slot facing upwardly, the flexible The step of wrapping the panel around the sleeve disposed at the proximal end of the panel in the sleeve includes inserting the proximal end of the panel into the peripheral slot. 7. The method according to 7 . The sleeve includes a distal end opposite to the proximal end, the panel includes a proximal end and a distal end opposite to the proximal end, and a cap having an outer peripheral slot facing downward is provided at the distal end of the sleeve. disposed, the step of winding the panel around the sleeve, the method according to claim 7, characterized in that it comprises the step of inserting the distal end of the panel in the peripheral slot. The flexible sleeve includes a proximal end and a distal end, and the panel includes a proximal end and a distal end opposed to the proximal end, and a nipple having an outer peripheral slot facing upward is provided on the flexible sleeve. A cap disposed at a proximal end of the panel in the sleeve and having an outer circumferential slot facing downward is disposed at a distal end of the sleeve and winding the panel around the sleeve comprises: 8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the steps of: inserting a base end into the upwardly facing outer peripheral slot; and inserting a front end of the panel into the downwardly facing outer peripheral slot. Method.

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