Patent Publication Number: US-7721944-B2

Title: Whip

Description:
This application claims priority to UK 0610902.9, filed Jun. 1, 2006, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
   The present invention relates to a riding crop or whip. 
   The present invention provides a whip comprising 
   a shaft having a first and second end, said shaft being arranged to provide a handle at said first end; and 
   a flapper located at the second end; 
   wherein the shaft comprises at least one planar fin located at said second end of the shaft, said fin being at least partially sheathed with said flapper. 
   The arrangement is such that the fin does not twist, or substantially does not twist, about the longitudinal axis of the shaft during use of the whip. To this end, the connection between the fin and the shaft must be relatively firm. As a result, the flapper, or other covering that surrounds the fin during use, does not twist with respect to the shaft. 
   Typically, said shaft includes a spine and a spine covering formed around and extending along said spine toward the first end. 
   Preferably, the whip comprises a single fin extending around the second end of the shaft and, when present, said spine covering. 
   Alternatively, the whip comprises a plurality of fins extending around the second end of the shaft. 
   Typically, the spine is tapered toward said second end. 
   Preferably, the fin is formed integrally with the shaft or spine covering. Alternatively it may be fixed to the shaft/covering by any suitable means. The, or each, fin may be formed from plastics, or any other suitable material. 
   The covering, and optionally the fin(s), may be injection moulded onto the spine. 
   Typically, the covering is composed of a plastics or leather material. 
   Typically, the spine is composed of a flexible material. 
   For example, the spine may be composed of fibreglass. 
   Preferably, the whip further comprises a handle located over the first end of the spine. 

   
     A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of a whip or crop according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention in an intermediate stage of production; and 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of a finished whip according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is illustrated a whip  10 , comprising a shaft including a flexible, tapered spine  12 . In the preferred embodiment, the spine  12  is composed of a composite material typically fibreglass. However it will be appreciated that the spine may be composed of any suitable material. 
   The shaft preferably comprises a plastic covering  14  formed around and extending along at least part of the length of the spine  12  such that the spine  12  protrudes from the covering  14  at its thicker end  20 . 
   In the preferred embodiment, the plastic covering  14  is injection moulded onto the spine  12 . In order to do so the spine  12  is held in place within a mould conforming to the outer shape of the covering by a series of holes or sprues (not shown). The liquid plastics material of the cover is injected into the mould and leaves voids  22  corresponding to the holes or sprues, disposed along the length of the spine  12  when the covered spine is removed from the mould. 
   Nonetheless, it will be apparent that the covering  14  may be provided on the spine by any suitable technique. 
   The covering  14  includes or is associated with a fin  16  located at the reduced diameter end  18  of the spine  10 . The fin  16  is, conveniently, integrally formed with the covering  14  but may alternatively be fixed thereto by any suitable means. The fin  16  may be formed from any suitable material e.g. plastics or leather. 
   In the preferred embodiment, the fin  16  is a single continuous planar fin extending from and along the covering at the end of the spine  12  with the plane of the fin  16  intersecting the covering  14 . However it will be appreciated that the fin may comprise a plurality of discrete generally co-planar fin portions, disposed along the reduced diameter end of the covering. 
   Referring now to  FIG. 2 , in the preferred embodiment, a middle portion  24  of the spine  10  is covered with a material, for example leather or plastics, wound in a spiral. However it will be appreciated that this portion may be covered in any manner with any suitable material. 
   A handle  26  is located over the thicker end  20  of the spine  12  and extends over the covering  14  to the middle portion  24  of the spine  12 . 
   In the preferred embodiment, a rubber sleeve  28  conceals the point at which the handle  26  and the middle portion  24  meet. However it will be appreciated that the sleeve may be composed of any suitable material. 
   A flapper  30 , or other end cover, is provided at the reduced diameter end  18  of the spine  10 . In the preferred embodiment, the flapper  30 , or popper, is composed of a single piece of padded material, e.g. padded leather, bent on itself to form a loop. The loop is stitched along each side to form a sheath like flapper. The flapper  30 , is preferably but not necessarily padded and may be formed from any other suitable material e.g. leatherette or nylon. 
   The flapper  30  is located over the fin  16  so that flapper does not twist on the whip spine  10  thereby avoiding the need for a very tight fitting flapper and so providing a more cushioned yet secured flapper than where a flapper is tightly fitted over a cylindrical shaft. The fin  16  also provides a broader base for the flapper  30  than would a cylindrical spine, and this spreads the impact force during use. 
   Once fitted, each free end of the loop of material forming the flapper is secured to the end of the spine by means of a string type binding  32 . 
   It will be appreciated that the flapper  30  need not necessarily take the form of a loop and may comprise one or more pieces of a flexible material, for example leather, plastics, rubber or the like and may be of any suitable form. 
   It will also be seen that the flapper  30  need not completely sheath the fin  16  and instead the flapper may simply extend around only the outer edges of the fins. In this case, the planar surfaces of the fin  16  are preferably covered with a separate cushioning material. The flapper may be located around the end  18  including the fin  16  and any cushioning material. 
   The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described herein, which may be amended or modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.