Purses – wallets – and protective covers – Protective cover made of flaccid material – For a golf club
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-05
2001-05-08
Shoap, Allan N. (Department: 3727)
Purses, wallets, and protective covers
Protective cover made of flaccid material
For a golf club
C206S315200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06227269
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to head covers for golf clubs and, more particularly, to an improvement in such head covers to allow the head covers to be easily and simply produced and to always maintain its desired stable shape.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When carrying golf clubs, such as woods and irons, on a golf course or other areas, a golfer takes a golf bag with the clubs being received in the bag. In such a case, the clubs are positioned within the bag in a way such that the heads are directed upwardly, with the grips being position on the bottom of the bag. Therefore, the club heads may undesirably strike against each other, and so the heads, particularly, the heads of the woods may be impacted and damaged. In an effort to protect the heads of the woods from being impacted or damaged, it is preferable to cover them with head covers.
A conventional head cover comprises a head protection part, which defines a head pocket for receiving and protecting the head of a club. An elongated shaft protection part integrally extends from the bottom of the head protection part to a length and is used for receiving and protecting the shaft of the club.
In a conventional head cover, the head protection part and the shaft protection part may be integrally formed through a knitting process. However, such a knitted head protection cover is problematic in that it is difficult to maintain the desired shape of the cover for a lengthy period of time due to the intrinsic characteristics of knit.
In an effort to overcome the above problem experienced in the knitted head cover, a head cover of
FIG. 1
is proposed and used. In the head cover of
FIG. 1
, the outer layer
3
of the head protection part
2
is made of cushionable raised fabric, such as woven fabric or synthetic fabric, with a sponge
4
being integrated with the interior surface of the outer layer
3
to maintain a desired shape of the head protection part
2
. A shaft protection part
5
is integrated with the bottom of the head protection part
2
through a sewing process.
However, the head cover of
FIG. 1
is problematic in that the cover has to be produced through a sewing process, and so it is difficult to make the cover. That is, the sewing process of making such head covers can be only performed by highly skilled workers, and due to the fact that the production process of the head covers is complicated and consumes significant time, productivity is reduced and there is an increase in the production cost of the head covers.
In addition, the integration of the sponge
4
with the cushionable raised fabric of the outer layer
3
may be gradually reduced, or the sewn parts of the head cover may be damaged after the head covers are used for a lengthy period of time. In such a case, it is almost impossible to retain the desired stable shape of the head cover, and so the market competitiveness of the head covers is reduced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a head cover for golf clubs, which is designed to allow various types of head covers to be easily and simply produced and to maintain its desired stable shape for a lengthy period of time regardless of external impact.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a head cover for receiving and protecting both a head and a head end portion of a shaft of a golf club, comprising: a tubular member defining a head pocket therein to receive the head, with first and second openings being formed at both ends of the tubular member; and a cap member detachably mounted to the edge of the first opening of the tubular member, thus closing the first opening.
In the above head cover, a guide member is detachably mounted to the edge of the second opening of the tubular member. The guide member is expandable and contractible, thus guiding entrance and exit of the head relative to the head pocket and protecting the head end portion of the shaft.
The guide member preferably comprises a shaft protection part designed to be expandable and contractible so as to guide the entrance and exit of the head relative to the head pocket and to receive and protect the head end portion of the shaft. A shaft ring is integrated with the shaft protection part and is detachably mounted to the edge of the second opening of the tubular member.
The above shaft ring is also brought into frictional contact with the edge of the second opening.
On the other hand, the tubular member, the cap member and the guide member may be integrally formed in a single structure through an injection molding process using at least one of Styrofoam, foam and/or plastic.
The tubular member preferably consists of a shape retaining frame detachably assembled with the cap member to define the head pocket therein while retaining both a desired size and a desired shape of the head pocket. A cloth part is provided on at least one of internal and external surfaces of the frame.
In the above tubular member, the shape retaining frame preferably consists of a first annular frame part used for forming the first opening of the tubular member while retaining a shape of the first opening. A second annular frame part forms the second opening of the tubular member while retaining the shape of the second opening. At least one connection part connects the first and second annular frame parts to each other while retaining positions of the two frame parts.
The cap member preferably consists of a cap frame assembled with the edge of the first opening of the tubular member by being brought into frictional contact with the edge of the first opening, with a window being provided on the cap frame for allowing the interior of the tubular member to be observable from the outside of the cap member. A cloth part is provided on the cap frame for covering interior and exterior surfaces of the cap frame.
In the above cap member, the window is preferably made of a transparent material.
REFERENCES:
patent: 232067 (1880-09-01), Rosenzweig
patent: D. 374051 (1996-09-01), Sheppard, Jr.
patent: 2128546 (1938-08-01), Venmore
patent: 2879819 (1959-03-01), Turnbull
patent: 3664399 (1972-05-01), Neff
patent: 3707279 (1972-12-01), Kaiser
patent: 3901299 (1975-08-01), Picco
patent: 4497404 (1985-02-01), Lowrance
patent: 4606050 (1986-08-01), Suk
patent: 4932523 (1990-06-01), Yamazoe
patent: 5209280 (1993-05-01), Gevas
Mai Tri M.
McDermott & Will & Emery
Shoap Allan N.
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