Patent Publication Number: US-2003228929-A1

Title: Grip for golf club

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] The present invention relates to golf clubs, and more specifically to a grip for a golf club, which facilitates club shaft alignment and prevents hands from slipping away from the grip while the golf club hits the ball, and which also comforts the holding of the hands.  
       [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art  
       [0004] Regular grips for golf clubs are commonly made of leather, natural rubber or synthetic rubber, and are shaped like a hollow cylinder having an insertion hole axially extended for inserting a club shaft. The insertion hole is generally designed to be a taper-like hole having an increasing inner diameter. For quick alignment, a line of protrusion, which is called backline or rib, is axially extended along an outer periphery of the grip. When a player holds the grip by hands, the line of protrusion is located at a bottom side of the grip and near the player. The line of protrusion can be directly formed in the outer periphery of the grip. Alternatively, the inner periphery of the grip can be made to have a longitudinal strip of planar portion and the thickness of the grip corresponding to the longitudinal strip of planar portion can be made relatively thicker such that a longitudinal line of protrusion is formed at the outer periphery of the grip corresponding to the longitudinal strip of planar portion after inserting the club shaft into the grip (see Japan patent publication No. 2000-176061).  
       [0005] However, the above conventional grip has following drawbacks. First, the line of protrusion increases the weight of the grip. Second, vibration and rotation generated by hitting balls are transferred to the line of protrusion so as to discomfort the player&#39;s hands. Although a grip disclosed by Japan patent publication No. 2000-24155 eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks, the grip fails to prevent the hands from slipping away therefrom and provides no means for club shaft alignment.  
       [0006] Recently, the grip of the golf club is provided with a protruded rib formed by thickening the outer periphery thereof or by partially enlarging a handle of the golf club. The protruded rib is high in density such that the player will feel uncomfortable while holding the grip.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a grip for golf club, which prevents hands from slipping away from the grip while hitting balls, and which comforts the holding of the hands while the grip is held by the hands.  
       [0008] To achieve the foregoing object of the present invention, the grip includes an insertion hole having a substantially circular cross section for inserting a club shaft thereinto, and a longitudinal rail located at an inner periphery of the insertion hole. The longitudinal rail is pressed outwards while inserting the club shaft into the insertion hole of the grip, thereby forming a rib extending longitudinally at an outer periphery of the grip. At the same time, gaps will be formed at both sides of the longitudinal rail, which make the holding feeling better when the player holds the rib. However, if the rib is not large enough, it will not function well. On the contrary, if the rib is too large, the player may feel uncomfortable while holding the grip. Besides, there are certain limitations of the golf club for competitive games. Therefore, the height of the rib is preferably between 0.1 mm˜1.0 mm. The present invention is characterized in that the longitudinal rail is located at the inner side of the grip and is squeezed to form the rib such that the player will feel quite comfortable while holding the grip. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0009]FIG. 1 illustrates a grip fastened to a club shaft according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0010]FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the grip according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0011]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the grip according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0012]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view, showing that the grip is inserted by the club shaft according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0013]FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the grip according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0014]FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the grip according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
     [0015] Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, a grip  1  for a golf club in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention includes an insertion hole  1   a  having a substantially circular cross section axially extended to one end, namely, a front end thereof for inserting an end of a club shaft S. The grip  1  has a longitudinal rail  2  protruded from the tubular inside wall thereof and longitudinally extended from the orifice to the rear end thereof. The longitudinal rail  2  has a substantially rectangular cross section (the peak of the longitudinal rail  2  shown in FIG. 3 is smoothly arched). Alternatively, the longitudinal rail  2  can be made to have a trapezoidal cross section or a cross section of any of a variety of shapes. The width as well as the height of the longitudinal rail  2  is preferably defined between 0.3 mm and 2.0 mm. Beyond the above range, the longitudinal rail  2  will hinder the insertion of the club shaft S into the grip  1 , and the weight of the grip  1  will be relatively increased. On the contrary, if the width and height of the longitudinal rail  2  are too small, the insertion of the club shaft S into the grip  1  cannot cause the grip  1  to form a rib  5  as expected.  
     [0016] The longitudinal rail  2  can be extended across the whole or part of the inner periphery of the grip  1 . For instance, there is no any longitudinal rail  2  within a predetermined length, such as 2.5 inches, form the entrance of the insertion hole  1   a , so as to facilitate inserting the club shaft S into the grip. The height of the longitudinal rail  2  can be identically defined such that the top of the longitudinal rail  2  is substantially straight. Generally, the front side (the side around the entrance) of the peripheral wall of the grip  1  is relatively thinner than the rear side thereof. Therefore, the height of a front end  2   a  of the longitudinal rail  2  is preferably slightly reduced. For example, the front end  2   a  of the longitudinal rail  2  is beveled, as shown in FIG. 2, to facilitate inserting the club shaft S into the grip  1 .  
     [0017] Similar to conventional grips for golf club, the grip  1  can be made of natural rubber, softwood, urethane resin, or synthetic rubber, such as isoprene rubber or ethylene propylene diene rubber or styrene butadiene rubber. The longitudinal rail  2  can be made of a material of which any of other parts of the grip  1  is made. However, in order to make the rib  5  formed in the grip  1 , the hardness of the rubber at the longitudinal rail  2  is preferably slightly higher than the other parts of the grip  1 .  
     [0018]FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the club shaft S inserted into the grip  1 . Before inserting the club shaft S, the longitudinal rail  2  protrudes radially from the inner periphery of the grip  1  (see FIG. 3). After inserting the club shaft S into the grip  1 , as shown in FIG. 4, the longitudinal rail  2  is pressed, deformed and forced outwards, thereby forming a rib  5  at the outer periphery of the grip  1 , and gaps  7  are formed between the outer periphery of the club shaft S and the inner periphery of the grip  1  and at two sides of the longitudinal rail  2 . Due to the presence of the gaps  7  inside the grip  1 , the rib  5  can easily be deformed at two sides thereof which make the player feel comfortable while holding the grip. Referring to FIG. 1, the height (t) of the longitudinal rib  5  is preferably between 0.1 mm˜1.0 mm. If the height is too small, the player may not align easily and may not hold the grip tight such that the grip will be subject to slip away from the hands. On the contrary, if the height is too large, the player will feel uncomfortable. When the grip is used for the beginners&#39; training, the height is preferably slightly large and the shape and the size of the grip preferably comply with the criteria of the formal competitive games. Because the longitudinal rail is at least formed at the position where the player is holding, the longitudinal rail can be excluded in the positions in proximity of the front end or the rear end of the grip within a predetermined range.  
     [0019]FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the grip constructed according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the longitudinal rail  20  of the grip  1  has a circular cross section. After inserting the shaft into the grip  1 , the longitudinal rail  20  is deformed and forced outwards, thereby forming the rib at the outer periphery of the grip  1 . The same as the aforesaid first embodiment of the present invention, the gaps are produced between the outer periphery of the club shaft and the inner periphery of the grip  1  at two sides of the longitudinal rail  20  after inserting the shaft into the grip  1 .  
     [0020]FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a grip constructed according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment, the longitudinal rail  20 ′ of the grip  1  has a triangular cross section. After inserting the shaft into the grip  1 , the longitudinal rail  20 ′ is deformed and forced outwards, thereby forming a rib at the outer periphery of the grip  1 . The width and height of the longitudinal rail  20 ′ is preferably slightly greater than the aforesaid first and second embodiments such that the size of the longitudinal rail  20 ′ can be approximately equal to the longitudinal rail  20  of the aforesaid second embodiment and the longitudinal rail  2  of the aforesaid first embodiment. In addition, the longitudinal rail of the grip can be made to have a cross section of any of a variety of polygons.