US3478799A - Golf club iron cover - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 18, 1969 D. G. HOYT, JR 3,478,799

GOLF CLUB IRON COVER Filed June 13, 1967 DOLPH G. Hoyr, JP

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United States Patent 3,478,799 GOLF CLUB IRON COVER Dolph G. Hoyt, Jr., 162 Ashdale Ave, Los Angeles, Calif. 90049 Filed June 13, 1967, Ser. No. 645,667 Int. Cl. B65d 65/04; A63b 57/00 US. Cl. 15052 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The application discloses a one-piece plastic slipover cover for the head of a golf club iron.

This invention has to do with protective covers used on the heads of golf clubs when they are not in use.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved cover for the head of a golf club iron to protect the head from nicks, abrasions and the like on and off the golf course when the club is not being used for play.

More particularly it is an object to provide a unitary or one-piece flexible cover so designed that it snugly fits the club head without benefit of fastening means and yet can be readily slipped on and off the head.

Another object is to provide an inexpensive, easily manufactured cover which can be molded from tough durable plastic.

These and other objects will be apparent from the drawing and the following description. Referring to the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view showing the rear side of a cover embodying the invention on the head of a golf club iron;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view showing the other side;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the rear side of the device as it appears when being slipped onto the head of a golf club, but on a larger scale;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the device;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view on line 5-5 of FIG. 4, but on a larger scale;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view on line 6--6 of FIG. 5 with the view turned 90;

FIG. 7 is anisometric view of a modification; and

FIG. 8 is an elevational view, partly broken away, of another form of the inveiition.

More particularly describing the invention, referring first to FIGS. 1-6, I show a golf club iron 11 provided with a cover 12 embodying the invention. The golf club 1'' has the head 13 at the lower end of the shaft 14, and the cover fits over the head to protect it against damaging nicks, scratches, abrasions, and the like when the club is not being used to play.

The cover is a unitary or one-piece element comprising a body formed of a flexible but stiff material and one which may be described as stiffly resiliently flexible in that, when flexed, it will return to its original shape. A material particularly suitable for the purpose is polyvinylchloride which may be slush-molded, or polyethylene may also be used and other plastics may serve the purpose.

The body has two sides or side walls designated 15 and 16, and these are so shaped as to conform generally to the shape of the face and rear side of the club head. Thus side or wall 15 is flat, or substanitally so, so as to fit over or against the flat ball-hitting face of the club head. The other side 16 includes two stepped sections 17 and 18 connected for a part of their length by a transition sec- "tion 19, and a third section 20 connecting section 18 and wall 15 and extending at an arcuate angle to the latter. The wall section 20 also merges into an end wall section ice 21 that in turn merges into a bottom wall section 23 that extends between side wall 15 and section 17 of side wall 16. It will be apparent that the cover or body is thus closed at one end and open at the other, providing a mouth 24 for entry of the golf club head Since the cover is shaped to substantially fit the club head which has a narrow region adjacent the shaft, the open end of the cover is substantially smaller in cross section than the remainder of the device and smaller than much of the golf club head. Therefore, to enable the device to be slipped onto and into place on the club head, a slot 25 is provided on each side which extends rearwardly or longitudinally of the device from the open end toward the other end a distance of about one-half the length of the device. This slot may be relatively narrow as shown. With this construction, when the device is initially slipped over the head of the club, as shown in FIG. 3, the smaller mouth end or open end can expand in clamshell-like fashion to accommodate the widest portion of the golf club head, and subsequently return to its normal position to snugly fit the club head.

I may also provide a modified form of the invention wherein only one side of the device is provided with a slot or longitudinal recess and thus in FIG. 7 I show a cover 12A which is generally similar to that previously described except that the side, designated 15A, is not slotted or recessed, while the other side 16A is provided with a somewhat longer and wider recess or slot 25A than those provided in the form of the invention previously described. The longer wider slot on one side only of this device enables it to be slipped over the head of a golf club into place thereon without difficulty.

In FIG. 8 I show still another form of the invention wherein the cover, designated generally by numeral 12B, is shaped to fit the club head except for the fact that the open end 30 is characterized by end edges 31 which reoede from top to bottom toward the closed end of the device. These edges are shown in a plane, however, they may be formed on a curve, if desired, or in two or more straight sections, it only being necessary that they be cut back or, in a sense undercut, sufficiently to permit the cover to be slipped over the head of a golf club by an angular motion without requiring the device to be expanded.

I claim:

1. A cover for the head of a golf club iron, comprising a tubular body of stifily resiliently flexible material shaped to have the general configuration of the head of a golf club iron, said body having a pair of opposed, laterally spaced side walls and edge wall sections connecting the same and being open at the smaller end and closed at the other end, each side Wall having a slot extending from the open end of the body toward the closed end for a substantial distance, the area of each slot being substantially less than the area of the side wall which it interrupts.

2. The cover set forth in claim 1 in which said slots are narrow and are in registration.

3. A cover for the head of a golf club iron, comprising a tubular body of stiflly resiliently flexible material shaped to have the general configuration of the head of 'a golf club iron, said body having a pair of opposed, laterally spaced side walls, one of said walls having a smaller area than the other of said walls, and edge wall sections connecting the peripheries of said walls, said body being larger at one end than the other and being open at the smaller end and closed at the larger end, the side wall of smaller area having a slot extending from the open end of the body toward the closed end for a substantial distance, the area of said s'lot being substantially less than the area of said one side wall.

4. A cover for the head of a golf club iron, comprising a tubular body shaped to have the general configuration of the head of a golf club iron, said body having a pair of opposed, laterally spaced imperforate side walls and edge wall sections conneeting the same, said body being larger at one end than the other and being closed at its large end and open at its other end, said side walls terminating at the open end of the body in edges which lie in the same plane and which are oblique to the general longitudinal axis of the body to provide an elongated inextensible mouth having the longer dimension substantially equal to the dimension of the large end of the body along a line substantially normal to said longitudinal axis and in the same plane therewith, whereby the cover can be slipped 4 over the head of a golf club by an angular motion without expanding the mouth.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,255,794 6/1966 Morse 15052 FOREIGN PA'ILENTS 261,329 5/1965 Australia.

MARTHA L. RICE, Primary Examiner

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