Metal working – Means to assemble or disassemble – To apply or remove a resilient article
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-13
2002-10-08
Hail, III, Joseph J. (Department: 3723)
Metal working
Means to assemble or disassemble
To apply or remove a resilient article
C029S255000, C029S263000, C029S281500, C029S280000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06460237
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to golf club assembly and maintenance and, more particularly, to an apparatus for fitting a handgrip over and onto a free end of a golf club shaft.
A golf club has a shaft with a club head at one, lower end and a handgrip at the opposite free end of the shaft. The shaft is a straight, elongated rod or tube fabricated from a suitable material. Contemporary shafts are typically made from an aluminum or steel alloy, or a graphite composite. The typical handgrip is a hollow tube open at one end and usually substantially closed at the other end except for a small vent. The handgrip is usually made from an elastomeric material which can be stretched, with difficulty, over the free end of the shaft for installation onto the shaft. The vent allows air to escape from the handgrip during fitting of the grip on the shaft.
During normal use of a golf club the handgrip deteriorates and so must be replaced. usually several times. during the useful life of the golf club. Fitting a new handgrip as a replacement rip on an old club involves stripping the old grip from the free end of the club shaft. cleaning the shaft of adhesive used to bind grips to the shaft, preparing the shaft to receive a new grip and then fitting the new grip over the free end of the shaft. Preparing the shaft for a new grip may involve application of fresh adhesive to the shaft, which sometimes includes wrapping the shaft with double sided adhesive tape. The tape is soaked with solvent to soften it and to allow grip to slide. The new handgrip then must be pulled down onto the shaft or the shaft end inserted into the grip.
The handgrip itself is usually made so that in a unstretched condition it has a slightly smaller interior diameter than the outside diameter of the shaft end to which it is to be fitted. This necessitates stretching the grip to fit the grip onto a shaft. If tape has been wound on the shaft pulling the grip down over the shaft can result in localized contact between the interior of the grip and the tape and in pulling the tape apart in areas where the winds of the tape overlap. This can result in the wind of the tape becoming locally stretched or bunched up, producing a feeling in users of the club of an uneven grip. The presence of wound tape on a shaft exaggerates the problem of evenly fitting new handgrip to a shaft so that the grip exhibits a good feel to the user and is highly stable in its position.
Numerous patents have been issued directed to the problem of fitting grips to golf club shafts. Several references have dealt with methods of using air pressure, either as a vacuum applied around the exterior of the grip, or as over pressure inside the grip, to expand the grip sufficiently to allow it to be easily slipped over the free end of a shaft. The air pressure can then be released to allow the grip to contract around the shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,706 to Cresse et al., illustrates one use of compressed air to inflate and thereby swell a handgrip allowing shaft and grip to be easily mated. Cresse et al., observes that the closed end of a handgrip typically has a small orifice. Where no orifice exists one can be easily pierced. Cresse et al. supply a support body
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which has a nipple insertable through the orifice from outside of the grip. Air under pressure is introduced to the inside of the grip through the nipple after first introducing the shaft sufficiently to seal the interior of the grip.
SUMMARY
An object of the invention is to provide a handgrip fitting apparatus suitable for home use. allowing employment of commonly used air compressors.
Another object of the invention is to provide a robust, compact and simple to use hand grip fitting die.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism which eases insertion of golf club shafts into handgrips.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide ease of removal of shafts from handgrips for repositioning.
The invention provides an apparatus for radially expanding an elastic handgrip on its axis of elongation to allow easier introduction of a shaft to the elastic handgrip by an open end of the shaft. The main body of apparatus provides a die having two sections. one of which is a cradle shaped to receive an elastic handgrip. A ventilation probe extends from the cradle to penetrate the elastic handgrip away from its open end upon positioning of the elastic handgrip in the cradle. The second section of the main body is a cradle closure. positionable on the cradle, for substantially enclosing an elastic handgrip disposed therein except in an area immediately surrounding the open end of the elastic handgrip. A muzzle fits around a shaft and is positionable over the cradle and cradle closure for steering the handgrip adjacent the open end of the hand grip over a shaft.
The invention further includes a source of compressed air and an attachment between the source of compressed air and the ventilation probe for delivering air under pressure to an interior of an elastic handgrip. The cradle and the cradle closure form a cylindrical structure when closed on one another, the cylindrical structure having a closed end and an opposite open end, from which open end an elastic handgrip may extend. Retention of the muzzle on the cylindrical structure can be handled a number of ways. One way is to provide a plurality of retaining rings around the circumference of the cylindrical structure near its open end and a plurality of spring loaded latches disposed radially inwardly in the muzzle cooperate to hold the muzzle on the cylindrical structure.
Additional effects, features and advantages will be apparent in the written description that follows.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4134198 (1979-01-01), Briggs
patent: 4677872 (1987-07-01), Nishida et al.
patent: 4783893 (1988-11-01), Farino
patent: 4899428 (1990-02-01), Hsu
patent: 5407026 (1995-04-01), Vald'via
patent: 5429706 (1995-07-01), Cresse et al.
patent: 5765758 (1998-06-01), Chu
patent: 5909912 (1999-06-01), Mueller
patent: 6245178 (2001-06-01), Lenhof et al.
patent: 6279637 (2001-08-01), Lenhof et al.
patent: 6298546 (2001-10-01), Slota
Hail III Joseph J.
O'Malley and Firestone
Wilson Lee
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