Purses – wallets – and protective covers – Protective cover made of flaccid material – For a golf club
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-02
2001-02-27
Weaver, Sue A. (Department: 3727)
Purses, wallets, and protective covers
Protective cover made of flaccid material
For a golf club
C206S315200, C206S315400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192950
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective cover for a golf club adapted to protect the head and shaft of the golf club. More particularly, it relates to a protective cover for a golf club which includes a pair of head covers coupled to each other to hinge vertically (i.e., on at least one horizontal axis between an open and closed positions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a golf bag is illustrated, in which golf clubs are received. The golf bag
21
is partitioned, as by internal walls
22
, to separately receive a plurality of golf clubs therein. The golf bag
21
also has a slope at the bottom thereof (not shown) so that the user can easily and conveniently extract any of golf clubs
1
from the golf bag
21
for use.
Golf clubs
1
are received in the golf bag
21
while being arranged together in parallel in such a manner that those having a shorter length are received in a front portion of the golf bag
21
whereas those having a longer length are received in a rear portion of the golf bag
21
. Accordingly, the golf clubs
1
can be easily selected for use. However, when the user carries the golf bag
21
, golf clubs
1
received therein will move and jostle, so that they come into contact with one another.
Where golf clubs
1
are received in the golf bag
21
in a manner shown in
FIG. 1
, the head
2
of a shorter one of the adjacent golf clubs
1
can come into contact with the shaft
3
of a longer golf club, thereby causing the shaft
3
of the longer golf club to be scratched. The paint layer on the surface of the shaft
3
may even be peeled off. This degrades in the appearance of the longer golf club.
In order to solve such a problem, a club cover
101
P
1
as illustrated in
FIG. 2
has been proposed. As shown in
FIG. 2
, a head cover
4
encloses the head
2
of a golf club
1
, and a shaft cover
5
encloses the lower portion of the shaft
3
of the golf club
1
, adjacent the head
2
.
This club cover
101
P
1
is put onto the club
1
before the golf club is received into the golf bag
21
. The head
2
of the golf club
1
is put into an opening defined at the lower end of the shaft cover
5
when golf club
1
is held vertically, head up, the head
2
is enclosed by the head cover
4
and the shaft
3
is enclosed by the shaft cover
5
.
This club cover
101
P
1
prevents the shaft
3
of the golf club
1
from being damaged due to movement occurring while carrying the golf bag, because the club cover
101
P
1
encloses both the head
2
and shaft
3
.
However, the opening of know head cover
4
has a small dimension, taking into consideration the thin construction of the shaft
3
of the golf club
1
. Due to such a small dimension of the opening, considerable effort is required to put the club cover
101
P
1
into the golf club
1
and to remove it. That is, the user should insert the head
2
of the golf club
1
into the opening of the head cover
4
while widening the opening by hand. For taking off the head cover, a strong force again is required to extract the head of the golf club through the narrow opening of the club cover.
Furthermore, when the golf club
1
with the head cover
101
P
1
is put into the golf bag
21
, the shaft cover
5
may come into contact, at its lower end, with the heads of other golf clubs already received in the golf bag
21
, the club covers of the latter golf clubs, or the upper ends of partitions provided in the golf bag
21
. As a result, the club cover may shift upwardly.
When the head cover portion
5
of the head cover shifts upwardly at its lower end as mentioned above, the shaft
3
of the golf club
1
is exposed, so that it still may come into direct contact with other golf clubs. For this reason, to this club cover
101
P
1
still permits degradation in the appearance of the golf club shaft.
FIG. 3
illustrates another conventional golf club cover
101
P
2
. This club cover has a cover body
11
adapted to enclose both the head
2
and the lower portion of the shaft
3
of a golf club
1
. The cover body
11
is longitudinally slit to allow an easy insertion of the head
2
and shaft
3
of the golf club
1
into the head cover. The head cover also has a slide fastener
12
attached to the slit portion of the cover body
11
. This club cover
101
P
2
, the slide fastener
12
attached to the cover body
11
is open for putting the club cover
101
P
2
onto golf club
1
. Thereafter, the head
2
of the golf club
1
is inserted into the head cover through the wide opening of the head cover. After the insertion, the slide fastener
12
is closed. Thus, the club cover
101
P
2
is put onto the golf club
1
, so that it protects the head
2
and the lower portion of the shaft
3
.
However, this head cover still has an inconvenience in that the slide fastener
12
must be manipulated to be opened and closed every time the head cover is put onto the golf club and taken off from the golf club.
Typically, the head cover is made of a thick fabric in order to provide a buffering function. For this reason, the head cover is bulky, so that it unnecessarily occupies a large space. This results in a bulky structure of the golf bag
21
itself.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,193 discloses a “golf club cover”. Similarly to the head cover of
FIG. 2
, the golf club cover of the '193 patent has a head cover portion adapted to enclose the head of a golf club, and a shaft cover portion extending downwardly from the head cover portion and serving to enclose the lower portion of the shaft of the golf club.
This golf club cover has a different configuration from the head cover of
FIG. 2
, only in that it has a longitudinal slot formed in the shaft cover portion, in order to conveniently insert the head and shaft of the golf club into the protective cover. However, this golf club cover still has an inconvenience in that the insertion of the head and shaft of the golf club into the protective cover is carried out under the condition in which the slot must be widened manually.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the invention is to solve the above mentioned problems involved in the prior art. A protective cover for a golf club includes a pair of head covers hingably coupled to each other to pivot on horizontal axes between open and closed positions, thereby achieving very accurate and rapid opening and closing while ensuring protection for the head and shaft of a golf club received therein against an external impacts.
This invention has several features, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of this invention as expressed by the claims which follow, its more prominent features will now be discussed briefly. Its benefits include, but are not limited to, durability, ease of use, and protection for the head and shaft of a golf club.
A first feature of the protective cover of this invention is that it includes a pair of head cover members adapted to enclose a head of a golf club. Typically, each head cover member has a top wall, bottom wall, and a side wall connecting the top wall and bottom wall. The side wall of each head covers member has an open side, and these open sides face each. There is an opening in each of the bottom walls along an internal edge of the bottom wall disposed along the open side. These openings are aligned so that with the head cover members in the closed position the openings are adjacent each other to provide a passageway adapted to receive a shaft of a golf club.
A second feature is a coupling member adapted to hingably couple the head cover members to each other to hinge them vertically between an open state or position and a closed state or position. (As used herein, “vertically” refers to the head cover members opening and closing on a horizontal axis where the golf club shaft is oriented vertically.) Thus, in the open state or position the head cover members receive or give up the head of a golf club and in the closed state or positi
Chapman & Cutler
Weaver Sue A.
LandOfFree
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