Patent ID: 6203063
Filing Date: 2001-03-20
Classification: A63C,Y10T

Abstract:
An athletic pole including a handle, a shaft, and a handle-to-shaft transition assembly, said transition assembly adapted for allowing the handle to articulate relative to the shaft, said transition assembly comprising:(a) said handle including a handgrip-engaging portion and a radially enlarged handle base on said handgrip-engaging portion;(b) said shaft including a main shaft portion and a radially enlarged shaft base on said main shaft portion, said shaft base comprising a collar for receiving the main shaft portion and an enlarged handle base support formed with said collar and defining a handle-base-engaging surface correspondingly sized to the handle base for permitting mating engagement of the handle-base-engaging surface and the handle base;(c) wherein the peripheral dimension of said handle base and the peripheral dimension of said handle base support are each at least twice the peripheral dimension of the main shaft portion and at least twice the peripheral dimension of the handgrip-engaging portion; and(d) said handle base and said shaft base being biased together by a tension force into a mating, coaxially aligned position when any bending forces applied to the pole are insufficient to overcome the tension force, the handle being pivotable to an articulated position relative to the shaft upon the application of a predetermined bending force on the pole sufficient to overcome the tension force;whereby, during handle articulation, a lower outer periphery of the handle base travels across and engages the handle-base-engaging surface of the shaft base such that, after an initial range of handle articulation, the bending force necessary to continue articulation or to maintain the handle in a desired articulated position relative to the shaft is less than the bending force necessary to articulate the handle through the initial range of handle articulation.