Handle of golf club shaft

Abstract

A shaft handle comprises a tube body and a ribbon covering tube body. The ribbon comprises a flexible layer and an anti-slipping layer attached on the flexible layer. The thickness of the anti-slipping layer is smaller than that of the flexible layer. The total thickness of the ribbon is about 1.2 to about 2.4 cm.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to a shaft handle for use in a golf club shaft. More, specifically, the invention relates to a shaft handle for use in a golf club shaft, which is lightweight and can absorb external vibration.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional golf club shaft 1 usually is provided with a tube body 2 made of natural rubber or synthetic rubber for grip by the user. Due to the weight of the tube body 2, made of natural rubber or synthetic rubber, the weight distribution between the shaft head and the handle is not appropriate. In order to meet the lightweight demand for the current golf club shaft, it is required to reduce the weight of the shaft handle.

[0003] One approach has been proposed by which wood flours are added into the rubber material, and the rubber material is thermally pressed to form coarse surface thereon. If the coarse surface is made finer with sufficient friction, the processing cost is greatly increased.

[0004] Another approach has been proposed by which a ribbon 3 made of natural feather or synthetic feather, such as PU, is applied on the tube body 2, as shown in FIG. 2. When the ribbon 3 is made of PU, its use is disadvantageous in high humidity conditions such as rainy day or substantial sweating, because the friction effect produced by the ribbon 3 is reduced. Furthermore, PU is not wear-resistant. When the ribbon 3 is made of natural feather, in addition to its consequent high production cost, the ribbon 3 further produces unpleasant odor and is hardened after long-term use.

[0005] As illustrated in FIG. 3, another type of conventional golf club handle includes a cap 1 that is arranged at the end of the golf club handle, and a grip tape 2 further is wound around the golf club handle. This type of construction usually needs two manufacturing stages, and is not economical, and further increases the assembly time. When the user wants to change the grip tape, he/she first has to tightly insert the cap 1 at the handle end, and then wind the grip tape around the handle. For users who are not familiar with this manual operation, uniformly and stably winding the grip tape may be troublesome. This conventional construction therefore is not practically convenient, and the change of grip tape does not represent an economical solution.

[0006] Shocks or vibrations produced when the golf club hits the golf ball are usually absorbed by the shaft handle. Increasing a thickness of the handle increases the vibration-absorbing ability of the handle, and further increases the weight and the outer diameter of the handle, which adversely affects the use of the golf club shaft.

[0007] Therefore, there is a need to provide a shaft handle that can improve the vibration-absorbing ability, and have a reduced weight.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a shaft handle suitable for use with a golf club shaft. The shaft handle comprises a tube body and a ribbon covering the tube body. The tube body includes a first flange and a second flange at opposite ends thereof. The ribbon comprises a flexible layer and an anti-slipping layer attached on the flexible layer. With the shaft handle of the invention, improved grip ability, reduced weight and increased vibration-absorbing effect are obtained.

[0009] To provide a further understanding of the invention, the following detailed description illustrates embodiments and examples of the invention, this detailed description being provided only for illustration of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The drawings included herein provide a further understanding of the invention. A brief introduction of the drawings is as follows:

[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional golf club shaft;

[0012] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional shaft handle around which a ribbon is wound;

[0013] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another type of conventional shaft handle;

[0014] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a golf club shaft provided with a shaft handle according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0015] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a golf club shaft provided with a shaft handle according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0016] FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B and FIG. 6C show a process flow to manufacture a shaft handle according to a first embodiment of the invention;

[0017] FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B, FIG. 7C and FIG. 7D show another process flow to manufacture a shaft handle according to a second embodiment of the invention; and

[0018] FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating an implementation of the shaft handle of the invention in a tennis racket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Wherever possible in the following description, like reference numerals will refer to like elements and parts unless otherwise illustrated.

[0020] With reference to FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6B, a vibration-absorbing handle includes a tube body 10, a flexible layer 20 and a anti-slipping layer 30. The tube body 10 includes a hollow rod 13 for receiving a handle portion 4 of a golf club shaft 1 therein. A first flange 11 and a second flange 12 that have larger diameters than the hollow rod 13 are respectively provided at ends of the hollow rod 13. An example of the material for the tube body 10 includes a natural rubber or synthetic rubber that has good tensile elongation.

[0021] The flexible layer 20 is wound around the hollow rod 13. The flexible layer 20 is made of a material with low density and high elastic constant. An example of the material for the flexible layer 20 includes polyurethans (PU), polyethylenes (PE) or ethyl vinyl acrylate foams. Other materials that are lightweight and can absorb vibration are also suitable to form the flexible layer 20. In this embodiment, soft polyethylene is used.

[0022] The anti-slipping layer 30 is wound around the flexible layer 20. One end of the anti-slipping layer 30 is secured at the second flange 12. The anti-slipping layer 30 has a thickness smaller than the flexible layer 20. The material for the anti-slipping layer 30 can be rubber, for example. The total thickness of the anti-slipping layer 30 and the flexible layer 20 is about 1.2 cm to about 2.4 cm.

[0023] The flexible layer 20 and the anti-slipping layer 30 are wound around the hollow rod 13, so that the total thickness of the shaft handle is not substantially increased, and a user can more easily hold the shaft handle. Furthermore, the total thickness of the shaft handle is designed according to the size of the user's palm and the difference between the diameter of the hollow rod 13 and the flanges 11, 12. For example, when the user's palm is small, the total thickness of the flexible layer 20 and the anti-slipping layer 30 should be relatively smaller. On other hand, when the user's palm is large, the total thickness of the flexible layer 20 and the anti-slipping layer 30 should be relatively larger. Furthermore, the total thickness of the flexible layer 20 and the anti-slipping layer 30 can be designed in manner that the diameter of the hollow rod 13 is gradually increased from one end to the other end to provide optimal grip for the user.

BEST MODE

FIRST EXAMPLE

[0024] With reference to FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C, the shaft handle includes a tube body 10, a flexible layer 20 and an anti-slipping layer 30. First, at one end of the tube body 10 is formed a first flange 11, and the other end of the tube body 10 is connected to a second flange 12 that has a bell shape, as shown in FIG. 6A. The flexible layer 20 is attached to the anti-slipping layer 30 by an adhesive 21 to form a ribbon 40. The ribbon 40 is wound around the hollow rod 13 from the first flange 11 toward the second flange 12, as shown in FIG. 6B. The ribbon 40 is collected at the end 44 of the hollow rod 13 where the second flange 12 is seated. Then, the second flange encapsulates the portion of the ribbon 40 at the end 14 of the hollow rod 13, as shown in FIG. 6C. The shaft handle is thus accomplished.

SECOND EXAMPLE

[0025] Reference now is made to FIG. 7A through FIG. 7D to describe a shaft handle according to another embodiment of the invention. Similar to the previous embodiments, the shaft handle includes the tube body 10, the flexible layer 20 and the anti-slipping layer 30. The tube body 10 respectively terminates in a first flange 11 at one end and a bell shape at an opposite end, as shown in FIG. 7A. The flexible layer 20, formed in a tape, is adhered on the hollow rod 13 of the tube body 10, as shown in FIG. 7B. The anti-slipping layer 30 is formed as a ribbon 40 is wound around the tube body over the flexible layer 20 from the first flange 11 toward the second flange 12, as shown in FIG. 7C. The anti-slipping layer 30 is collected at the end 14 of the hollow rod 13 where the second flange 12 is seated. Then, the bell-shaped second flange 12 encapsulates the portion of the ribbon 40 at the end 14 of the hollow rod 13 to fixedly attach the anti-slipping layer 30. The vibration-absorbing shaft handle of the invention may be suitable for various types of games racket such as tennis rackets (as shown in FIG. 8), badminton rackets, etc.

[0026] It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above description is only illustrative of specific embodiments and examples of the invention. The invention should therefore cover various modifications and variations made to the herein-described structure and operations of the invention, provided they fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the following appended claims

Claims

1. A shaft handle comprising

a tube body; and

a ribbon, covering the tube body, wherein the ribbon comprises a flexible layer and an anti-slipping layer attached on the flexible layer, the thickness of the anti-slipping layer being smaller than that of the flexible layer, and the total thickness of the ribbon being about 1.2 to about 2.4 cm.

2. The shaft handle of claim 1, wherein the tube body further comprises a first flange and a second flange between which the ribbon is wound from the first flange toward the second flange.

3. The shaft handle of claim 1, wherein the tube body is made of rubber.

4. The shaft handle of claim 1, wherein the flexible layer is made of PE.

5. The shaft handle of claim 1, wherein the flexible layer is attached on the anti-slipping layer by an adhesive.

6. The shaft handle of claim 1, wherein the flexible layer is attached to the tube body by an adhesive.

7. The shaft handle of claim 2, wherein the thickness of the ribbon depends upon the difference between a diameter of the tube body and that of the first flange and a second flange.