Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Handle – handle component – or handle adjunct – Handle having mounted grip means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-02
2001-05-08
Knight, Anthony (Department: 3626)
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Handle, handle component, or handle adjunct
Handle having mounted grip means
C016S110100, C473S300000, C473S549000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06226836
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cork grip and method of manufacturing the grip, the grip being for use on a handle or grip portion of an implement, and in particular for use on the handle or grip portion of a sports related implement such as a fishing rod or a golf club.
B. Description of the Background Art
Cork is a protective layer of cells that grows near the outer surface of wood producing plants. Cork is a light and highly elastic material, and exhibits excellent resistance against heat, electricity, sound, water and the like. In recent years use of cork materials for grip portions of golf clubs, tennis rackets, and other sports related implements has increased. Such cork grips are typically formed by stripping a tree of bark and pressing the bark into the shape of a board. Pieces of the cork are then punched or cut out of the processed cork material such that each piece has a predetermined cylindrical shape. The pieces are then linked or adhered to one another to form the shape of the grip.
A cork grip manufactured in this manner typically contains a number of naturally occurring holes or gaps as a result of, for instance, what is referred to as “pithy tissue”. The holes or gaps may filled with a filling agent that includes cork powder and a binder mixed together to improve durability and the design of the cork grip.
The conventional cork grip described above, is formed from cork pieces that are obtained by punching out or cutting the cork sheet described above. However, such cork material is taken from a tree in a circumferential direction with respect to the outer diameter of the cork tree. The pieces which subsequently form the grip are typically formed such that gaps, holes and other inconsistencies such as “pithy tissue” of the cork material are oriented in a longitudinal direction of a grip piece. For instance, a conventional grip, as shown in
FIG. 5
, may include “pithy tissue” that appears as elongated imperfection that extend in the longitudinal direction on a peripheral surface of the grip.
The filling agent described above can easily fall off the grip and consequently the appearance and feel of the grip may not desirable. Further, since the binder contained in the filling agent hardens to a consistency that differs from the consistency of the cork in some cases, those portions of the grip which include the filling agent do not always feel smooth.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a cork grip which does not break easily and has a desirable appearance.
Another object of the invention is to provide a simple method of manufacturing such a cork grip.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a grip for a hand held implement, such as a fishing rod and a golf club, includes a main part of cork material that has a cylindrical shape. The cork material has naturally occurring pithy tissues and the main part is formed such that the pithy tissues are oriented in a direction that intersects with an axial direction of the cylindrical shape of the main part. A filling agent is inserted in the pithy tissues.
Preferably, the pithy tissues intersect with the axial direction of the cylindrical shape of the main part such that the pithy tissues are generally perpendicular to the axial direction.
Preferably, the main part includes a plurality of cylindrical pieces of cork material that fixed together to form the cylindrical shape of the main part.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is a method of manufacturing a grip for a hand held implement such as a fishing rod or a golf club, the method includes the steps of:
punching out cylindrical cork pieces from a cork material such that naturally occurring pithy tissues in the cork material intersect an axial direction of each cork piece; and
applying a filling agent to the pithy tissues thereby filling in voids associated with the pithy tissues.
Preferably, the method further includes the step of removing cork from a cork tree to form a cork sheet that has a board-like shape which constitutes the cork material where the cylindrical cork pieces are punched from the cork sheet.
Preferably, the method includes the step of processing the cork sheet to provide the cork sheet with generally uniform consistency before the punching step.
Preferably, the method further includes the step of adhering a plurality of the cylindrical cork pieces to each other in succession in the axial direction to thereby form a main part of the grip before the applying step.
In the above aspects of the present invention, the pithy tissues are oriented in a direction that intersects the axial direction of the main part of the grip, and therefore, the pithy tissues appear as fine circular shapes on a surface of the main part of the grip. That is, since the length of pithy tissues do not appear on the surface of the main part, the filling agent which fills in the pithy tissues does not easily fall off and the durability of the grip is consequently improved. Further, since only small amounts of the filling agent are used to fill in the gaps or openings that correspond to the pithy tissues, production is easy and manufacturing costs are reduced. Still further, since the amount of the filling agent to be injected is small, deterioration in the touch and feel of the grip typically caused by the binder in the filling agent is suppressed.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings where like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: D. 383821 (1997-09-01), Wood
patent: 3975855 (1976-08-01), McKeown
patent: 4373718 (1983-02-01), Schmidt
patent: 4467548 (1984-08-01), Tabor
patent: 5599242 (1997-02-01), Solviche et al.
Knight Anthony
Peavey Enoch E
Shimano Inc.
Shinjyu Intellectual Property Firm
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