Abstract:
An apparatus for receiving a golf club and positioning the head of the club and holding it in a predetermined position and providing a visual indication of that position at a location proximate the extending end of the golf club shaft so that an installer can properly align a grip that is to be installed on the shaft of the club. The apparatus includes a golf club holding mechanism, a club head positioning device, a club head position indicator, an aligner mechanism and a circuit by which the installer controls and monitors the operation of the apparatus.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates in general to assembly fixtures and more particularly to an apparatus for aligning golf club grips during the assembly process. 
     Most, if not all golf club grips are molded with a perceptible ridge running longitudinally of the grip and that ridge is provided to help a golfer line up the club in preparation for hitting a golf ball. When a right handed golfer wraps his left hand around the golf club, a crease will be formed across the aligned knuckles of the fingers of his or her folded hand and the ridge of the golf club grip will nestle into the crease. When such a relationship between the ridge and the golfers hand exists, and other variables such as the golfers stance are proper, the face of the golf club should be lined up in a perpendicular attitude relative to the intended flight path of the golf ball. In order for such alignment of the golf club face to occur, the golf club grip must be installed on the shaft of the club in a correct manner. The ridge provided on the grip must face the ground and lie in a plane perpendicular to the ground when the club is held in the ball addressing position and that plane must be parallel to the leading edge formed at the intersection of the club face and the sole of the club. Another way of saying this is that when the club is being held in the address position, the ridge of the grip must be on the underside of the golf club shaft and both the ridge and the leading edge of the golf club must be perpendicular to the intended flight path of the golf ball. If the golf club grip is improperly installed, even if it is only off a few degrees, the club will be gripped in an open or closed attitude and the golfer may not even be aware of such a condition. 
     To assist the grip installer, most grips are provided with a small alignment mark or marks on the side of the grip which is diametrically opposed to the ridge. The installer visually aligns the alignment mark with the leading edge of the golf club face while installing the grip and since the alignment mark and the leading edge are quite a distance apart, mis-aligned grip installation can and often does occur. 
     A grip alignment mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,815 issued to Karner et al. Among the shortcomings of this prior art mechanism is the use of a device which includes a spaced pair of vertically aligned pair of rails to define the alignment position of the golf club upon which a grip is to be installed. When installing a grip, the operator of the mechanism places the club in the mechanism and rotates it about its shaft axis to bring the leading edge of the club head into engagement with the vertical plane defined by the pair of rails. When aligned in this manner, the operator then actuates a clamp which holds the club, and a laser beam is used to provide alignment indicia to guide the operator in installation of the grip. Because golf clubs have different off-sets, as will hereinafter be described in detail, the device on which the pair of rails are mounted is movable and the entire device will automatically move when contacted by the leading edge of the club head. Such movement will occur during rotational movement of the golf club prior to the leading edge of the head coming into contact with both of the rails and can continue if the club is rotated beyond the essential vertical positioning of the leading edge of the club head. This prior art device is not provided with a golf club head positioning capability and therefore relies solely on the skill and attentiveness of the operator. 
     Therefore, a need exist for a new and useful golf club grip installation apparatus which overcomes some of the installation problems and the shortcomings of the prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, a new and useful apparatus is disclosed for aiding an installer in positioning a golf club grip in a properly aligned position on the shaft of a golf club. 
     The apparatus includes a holding mechanism having two separate clamps for receiving and holding a golf club during the alignment and grip installation process. The first clamp is a hosel clamp and the second is a shaft clamp with these clamps being spaced apart and in alignment with each other. When the clamps of the golf club holding mechanism are in the unclamped state and a golf club to be gripped is placed therein, the alignment process is started by rotating the golf club about the longitudinal axis of its shaft to bring the leading edge, formed at the intersection of the face and the sole of the club head, into a vertical position. Rotation of the golf club into the vertically disposed position may be done by hand, however use of a golf club positioning device is preferred . The disclosed golf club positioning device is actuated when the grip installer depresses a clamp switch provided on the panel of a control circuit and holds it in the depressed position. The club positioning device will then move into engagement with the golf club head to rotate the club into the desired vertical position. 
     An electromechanical golf club position indicator is provided for sensing when the golf club being rotated reaches the vertical position and when this condition is sensed, the position indicator produces a signal to automatically energize the hosel clamp and the shaft clamp of the golf club holding mechanism and de-energize the golf club positioning device. 
     In addition to the above described golf club holding mechanism, the positioning device and the position indicator, the apparatus of the present invention further includes a grip aligner which is an elongated structure that extends from proximate the head of a golf club held by the holding mechanism to proximate the extending end of the golf club shaft. The aligner is positioned and configured to provide the installer with a visual indication of the proper alignment position for the grip. The grip aligner can be adjusted for custom grip installations wherein the grip can be installed in a selected one of a plurality incrementally rotated positions on the club shaft so that a golfer will hold the club in a desired open or closed position. 
     The hereinbefore mentioned control circuit is provided so that the installer is able to control the functions of the grip alignment apparatus and monitor the status of the automatic operations thereof. With the golf club firmly held by the hosel and shaft clamps and the grip aligner mechanism indicating the desired grip alignment position, the installer can precisely align and install the grip on the shaft of the club. 
    
    
     The novel features of the present invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims and the invention will be more fully understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the grip alignment apparatus of the present invention illustrating the various features thereof. 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of the apparatus shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line  3 — 3  of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line  4 — 4  of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line  5 — 5  of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 6 is an end elevational view of the apparatus shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line  7 — 7  of FIG.  6 . 
     FIG.  8 . Is a block diagram showing the electrical control functions of the apparatus of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In order to insure a complete understanding of the following description, a brief explanation of the golf club terminology used herein will now be given with particular reference being made to FIGS. 2 and 3. The golf club  12  shown in phantom lines includes the usual shaft  14  defining a longitudinal axis  16  and having a club head  18  on one end with a grip  20  installed on the opposite end  22  thereof. The golf club head  18  is provided with a hosel  24  by which the club head is affixed to the shaft  14  so that the hosel axis lies on the shaft axis  16 . The club head  18  has a sole  26  and a ball striking face  28  with the intersection of the sole and the face being defined herein as the leading edge  30  of the golf club head. Most golf clubs are manufactured with what is commonly referred to as an “off-set”. An off-set may be defined as the relationship between the shaft axis and the leading edge of the golf club face. When the shaft axis intersects the leading edge, there is no off-set and when they do not intersect there is off-set, and the amount of off-set will vary from club to club within a set of golf clubs. 
     Referring more particularly to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows golf club grip alignment apparatus of the present invention which is indicated generally by the reference numeral  10 . As will hereinafter be described in detail, the apparatus  10  has a golf club holding mechanism that includes a hosel clamp  32  and a shaft clamp  34 . The apparatus  10  also includes a golf club positioning device  36 , a position indicator  37 , a grip aligner  38 , and a control mechanism  40 . 
     As seen best in FIG. 4 the hosel clamp  32  of the golf club holding mechanism includes a housing  42  which is suitably attached to the front surface  45  of a vertical support plate  46  so that the housing extends normally from the support plate. The housing  42  has a pair of spaced apart vertically disposed side plates  48  and  50  which are interconnected at their lower longitudinal edges by a bar  52 . A fixed jaw  54  is disposed so as to interconnect the extending ends of the vertical plates  48  and  50  by means of suitable fasteners. The vertical plates  48  and  50  have upwardly opening U-shaped slots  56  and  58  respectively, formed therein proximate the fixed jaw  54 . When the golf club  12  is placed in the hosel clamp  32 , the shaft  14  of the club will be supported in the smaller slot  56  of the plate  48  and the hosel  24  of the club will be supported in the larger slot  58  of the plate  50 . The golf club is positioned in this manner so that the extending end of the hosel  24  is in abutting engagement with the inner surface of the vertical plate  48  whereby, the golf club will be in the proper axially disposed position within the apparatus  10 . 
     A pneumatic cylinder  60  is mounted on the back surface  61  of the support plate  46  and has an actuator shaft  62  which passes through a suitable hole formed in the plate and a movable jaw  64  is carried on the extending end of the shaft  62 . The movable jaw  64  is slidably supported on the upper surface of the bar  52  and is reciprocally movable between a hosel clamping position and a hosel released position. When the hosel clamp  32  is in the hosel released position, the golf club  12  will be cradled is the slots  56  and  58  and will be held thereby against lateral movement relative to the longitudinal axis  16  of the golf club shaft, but will be rotatably movable about the longitudinal axis  16  for reasons which will become apparent as this description progresses. When the hosel clamp  32  is in the hosel clamping position, the golf club  12  will be held against all movements, that is axial, rotational and lateral movements. 
     Reference is now made to FIGS. 1,  2  and  6  wherein the shaft clamp  34  of the golf club holding mechanism is shown. The shaft clamp  34  includes a fixed jaw  66  which is mounted on the vertical support plate  46  and a pair of shafts  68  and  70  are carried by the fixed jaw and are disposed so as to extend normally therefrom. A movable jaw  72  is slidably carried on the shafts  68  and  70  for movement between a golf club shaft clamping position and a released position. A pneumatic cylinder  74  is mounted on the back surface  61  of the vertical support plate  46  and its actuator shaft  76  extends through suitable holes provided in the plate  46  and the fixed jaw  66 . The actuator shaft  76  has a threaded end which is disposed in a bore  78  formed through the movable jaw  72  and is mounted therein by suitable jam nuts  80 . 
     The grip aligner  38 , as seen best in FIG. 2 includes an elongated alignment bar  82  with one end thereof mounted in a clevis  84  by means of a pivot pin  86 . The clevis  84  as seen best in FIG. 5, is carried on a linear ball bearing slide  88  which has its stationary base  90  mounted on a bracket  92  that is in turn mounted on the vertical support plate  46 . A carriage  94  is mounted on the stationary base  90  for sliding movement in a path that is perpendicular to the vertical support plate  46 . Therefore, the movement path of the linear ball bearing slide  88 , the clevis  84  which is mounted atop the carriage  94  and the alignment bar  82  is transverse to the longitudinal axis  16  of the golf club shaft  14  and the purpose for such movement will hereinafter be described in detail. The linear ball bearing slide  88  used in the practice of the present invention is identified as part no. 6203K13 and is available from the McMaster-Carr Supply Company of 9630 Norwalk Boulevard, Santa Fe Springs, Calif. 90670-2932. 
     An elongated square beam  96  is mounted on top of the alignment bar  82  for movement therewith in a path that is transverse to the longitudinal axis  16  of the golf club shaft  14 . The square beam  96  is mounted atop the alignment bar  82  in a square bearing  98  with the square beam  96  being extensibly moveable through the bearing  98  in a path parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the alignment bar  82 . The square beam  96  is identified as part no. 60255K413 and the square bearing  98  is identified as part no. 60255K11 and both are available from the McMaster-Carr Supply Company at the address given above. The linear ball bearing slide  88 , the square beam  96  and the square bearing  98  are precision items which will produce very accurate and precise lateral and extensible movements of the grip aligner mechanism  38 . 
     A plate  100  depends from the extending end of the alignment bar  82  and a registration device in the preferred form of a V-block  102  is dependingly carried on the lower end of the plate  100 . When the grip aligner  38  is pivotably moved into the operating position as will hereinafter be described, the downwardly facing V-shaped opening  104  of the V-block  102  will come to rest in a straddling position on the golf club shaft  14 . The lateral movement capability of the grip aligner  38  provided by the linear ball bearing slide  88  allows for golf clubs having different off-set dimensions to be gripped in the apparatus  10 . When the V-block  102  is placed in a straddling positioned on the golf club shaft  14 , the alignment bar  82  and the square beam  96  will be laterally moved as necessary to provide registered vertical alignment between the aligner  38  and the golf club shaft  14 . 
     A plate  106  is dependingly carried on the extending end of the square beam  96  and an index carrier block  108  is mounted on the lower end of the plate and configured to extend transversely of the square beam. A plurality of holes  110  are formed in spaced increments through the carrier block  108  and a movable pointer  112  is placed in a selected one of the holes as determined by the desired alignment of the grip to be installed. In other words, if the grip is to be installed in a conventional manner wherein the plane containing the ridge formed in the grip is parallel to the plane containing the leading edge of the golf club head, the pointer will be installed in the central one of the plurality of holes  110 . If customized grip installations are desired, then the pointer can be relocated to one side or the other of the central hole so that the grip will be installed in a rotated position and thereby induce the golfer to hold the club in a closed or open position when addressing the golf ball. 
     It will be appreciated that the square beam  96  is extensibly movable so that the pointer  112  can be located proximate the alignment mark or marks provided on a grip being installed. The alignment marks of different grips may not always be in the same place and the different length shafts used on the different golf clubs necessitates the extensible movement of the square beam if precise alignment is to be achieved. 
     As herein before mentioned, the alignment bar  82  is mounted on the clevis  84  by a pivot pin  86 . Such mounting allows the entire grip aligner  38  to be pivotably moved between an operating position shown in solid lines in FIG. 2 and a club installing position shown in dashed lines in the same figure. This pivotably movement of the grip aligner  38  is accomplished by a manually operable cam mechanism  114  which is mounted on the support plate  46  by means of a pivot pin  116 . The cam mechanism  114  includes a pivot block  118  that is carried on the pin  116  with a lever  120  being affixed to one end of the pivot block. A cam  122  is attached to the other end of the pivot block  118  and defines a cam surface  124 . Movement of the lever  120  in the direction indicated by the arrow  126  in FIG. 2 will move the cam mechanism  114  from the solid line position to the dashed line position. Such movement will bring the cam surface  124  of the cam  122  into bearing engagement with the underside of the alignment bar  82  and thereby move the grip aligner  38  to its club installing position. As indicated by the name, when the grip aligner  38  is moved into the club installing position, the golf club  12  can be placed in the grip alignment apparatus  10  by the installer/operator of the apparatus. 
     Reference is now made to FIG. 3 wherein the golf club position indicator  37  is best seen. A back plate  130  is carried by a vertically separated pair of spacer plates  132  which extend normally from the back face  61  of the support plate  46  to position the back plate  130  in a rearwardly spaced parallel relationship with the support plate  46 . An upper slide rod  134  is mounted in a first aligned pair of holes  136  formed in the support plate  46  and the back plate  130 , and a lower slide rod  138  is mounted in a second aligned pair of holes  140  provided in the support plate  46  and the back plate  130 . The holes  136  and  140  are formed in the plates  46  and  130  so that the rods  134  and  138  are slidably movable in their respective pairs of holes and the rods are positioned in vertical alignment with each other. The forwardly extending end of the upper slide rod  134  is provided with a touch pad  142  and the lower slide rod  138  is similarly provided with a touch pad  144  on its extending end. The upper slide rod  134  is biased to an extended position by a compression spring  146  which is mounted concentrically on the rod and bears against the front surface of the support plate  46  and the inwardly facing surface of the touch pad  142 . Similarly, the lower slide rod  138  is biased to an extending position by a compression spring  148  which is mounted concentrically on the rod  138  and bears against the front surface of the support plate  46  and the inwardly facing surface of the touch pad  144 . A dowel  150  is suitably mounted on the lower slide rod  138  and extends normally upwardly therefrom though a slot  152  formed transversely through the upper slide rod  134  with the slot having an inwardly disposed end  153  and being elongated axially of the rod. The upper end of the dowel  150  is in engagement with the spring loaded normally extending plunger  154  of a linear motion sensor  156  which is mounted on the upper slide rod  134 . The linear motion sensor, as seen in FIG. 8, includes a resistor  158  to which an input voltage is applied from a suitable source. A variable output voltage is present on a wiper  160  with the value of the output voltage being determined by the position of the wiper along the length of the resistor  158 , and the position of the wiper  160  is determined by the position of the plunger  154 . The linear motion sensor  156  is identified as part no. LP-15UL-B and is commercially available from the Midori America Corporation, 2555 E. Chapman Avenue, Suite 400, Fullerton, Calif. 92831. 
     Reference is made once again to FIG.  3 . In the relaxed, or normal, position of the golf club position indicator  37 , the dowel  150  carried by the lower slide rod  138  is biased by the compression spring  148  into bearing engagement with the back surface  61  of the support plate  46 , thereby limiting the travel of the lower slide rod in the extended direction. The upper slide rod  134  is biased into its extended position by the compression spring  146  and its travel in that direction is limited by the inwardly disposed end  153  of the slot  152  which bears against the dowel  150 . 
     When the installer places the club  12  in the apparatus  10 , the hosel  24  of the club and the adjacent end of the shaft  14  will be cradled in the hosel clamp  32  in the manner hereinbefore described, and the club shaft  14  will extend through the jaws  66  and  72  of the shaft clamp  34 . This initial positioning of the golf club  12  will place the head  18  of the club proximate the touch pads  142  and  144  of the position indicator  37  in the manner shown in FIG.  3 . The golf club positioning device  36  is provided on the opposite side of the club head  18  and is disposed in alignment with the touch pads  142  and  144  of the position indicator. The positioning device  36  is supported on a mounting plate  164  which is suitably mounted on the front face  45  of the support plate  46  so as to extend normally therefrom. The club positioning device  36  includes a riser block  166  supported on the mounting plate  164  and a pneumatic cylinder  168  is mounted on the riser block. The actuator shaft  170  of the pneumatic cylinder  168  has a club head pusher plate  172  mounted on its extending end and the pusher plate  172  is reciprocally movable into engagement with the club head  18  to rotate it about the longitudinal axis  16  of the golf club shaft  14 . 
     When the golf club head is initially rotated in the direction of the arrow  174  in FIG. 3, it will move into bearing engagement with the touch pad  144  and move the lower slide rod  138  in the retracted direction against the bias applied by the spring  148 . Retracting the lower slide rod  138  in this manner will produce a retracted movement of the upper slide rod  134  by virtue of the dowel  150  bearing against the inwardly disposed end  153  of the slot  152  formed in the upper slide rod  134 . Continued rotation of the club head  18  will bring it into engagement with the upper touch pad  142  and cause the upper slide rod  134  to retract independently of the movement of the lower slide rod  138 . When the leading edge  30  of the golf club  12  reaches a vertical position, the touch pads  142  and  144  will be in vertical alignment with each other and the dowel  150  will be located in approximately the center of the slot  152 . Such movements of the touch pads  142  and  144  of the position indicator  37  will cause the dowel  150  to depress the plunger  154  of the linear motion sensor  156  to produce a predetermined output voltage value which, as will hereinafter will be described, indicates that the leading edge  30  of the golf club head  18  has been rotated into the desired vertical position. 
     The operator of the apparatus  10  installs the golf club to be gripped with his or her right hand and controls the operation of the apparatus  10  with the left hand which is within easy reach of the control panel  128  which is part of the control mechanism  40  mounted on the back surface  61  of the support plate  46  in the position shown in FIG.  6 . 
     OPERATION 
     To start operation of the apparatus  10  the operator closes the on-off switch  176  seen in FIG. 8, and depresses the clamp switch  178  and holds it closed. When the clamp switch  178  is depressed, a first solenoid  180  is energized to apply air from a suitable source through a switching valve  181  to the pneumatic cylinder  168  to extend its actuator shaft  170  for rotating the club head  18  about the longitudinal axis  16  of the club shaft  14 . Closing the on-off switch  176  also applies the voltage to the linear position sensor  156  and the output voltage of the sensor will change as the club head is rotated toward the desired position. The output voltage of the linear position sensor  156  is monitored by a comparator  182  which is adjusted to set an upper voltage threshold and a lower voltage threshold. The comparator  182  will produce an output voltage when the monitored output voltage of the position sensor  156  is between the two threshold values and that output voltage value is the hereinbefore described predetermined value which indicates that the leading edge  30  of the golf club head  18  is in the desired vertical position. The output voltage of the linear position sensor  156  is also monitored by a negative level detector  184  which is set at a voltage which is lower than the lower voltage threshold setting of the comparator  182 . The negative level detector  184  will produce an output voltage to turn on a club negative tilt lamp  186  when the club head is being rotated toward the desired position and the monitored voltage value is between the setting of the negative level detector  184  and the lower threshold setting the comparator  182 . When the club head being rotated reaches the desired position the negative level detector  184  will no longer produce a voltage and the negative tilt lamp  186  will be extinguished and the first solenoid  180  will be de-energized to stop the rotational movement of the golf club head  18 . 
     Also, when the golf club head being rotated reaches the desired position, the output voltage of the comparator  182  is applied through a latching circuit  188  to turn on the club aligned lamp  190 , and energize both the hosel clamp solenoid  192  and the shaft clamp solenoid  194  which position their respective switching valves  193  and  195  to direct air form the suitable air supply the pneumatic cylinders  60  and  74 . At that point, the operator can release the clamp switch  178  and the latching circuit  188  will maintain the energized states of the club aligned lamp  190 , and the solenoids  192  and  194  which operate the hosel and shaft clamps.  32  and  34  respectively. The latching circuit  188  will maintain the energized states of those components until the operator depresses the unclamp switch  196 . 
     The output voltage of the linear position sensor  156  is also monitored by a positive level detector  198  which is set at a voltage value above the upper threshold setting of the comparator  182 . In the event that the club head being rotated is rotated beyond the desired vertical position, the output voltage of the linear position sensor  156  will increase to a value above the upper threshold setting of the comparator  182  and the positive level detector  198  will produce a voltage that turns on a positive tilt lamp  200  to advise the operator of such an occurrence. This will usually not occur unless the operator manually rotates the club head  18  beyond the desired vertical position, and if this should occur, the operator will be alerted and operation of the apparatus  10  will need to be restarted. 
     When the golf club  12  has been clamped in the desired position by energizing of the hosel and shaft clamps  32  and  34 , and the grip aligner  38  has been pivotably moved into the operating position, the club is ready for installation of the grip  20  by using installation techniques well known in the art. When installation is completed, the operator depresses the unclamp switch  196  which as hereinbefore mentioned de-energizes the hosel and shaft solenoids  192  and  194  to move the hosel and shaft clamps  32  and  34  to their unclamped positions thus allowing the operator to remove the gripped club and repeat the operation for the next club to be gripped. 
     Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described herein, it will be understood that many modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art. 
     For example, rotational movement of the golf club  12  to move the leading edge  30  of the club head  18  into the desired vertical position could be accomplished by the operator who would turn the club by hand instead of using the above described golf club positioning device  36 . Also, the pneumatic cylinders  60 ,  74  and  168  could be replaced with hydraulic rams, or other functionally equivalent devices. 
     Therefore, it is intended that the following claims be construed to cover such modifications and variations.