Oversized Clamshell Removable Putter Grip

Abstract

An oversized clamshell putter grip, formed of two roughly equal halves, secured with a hinge, which can easily, and repeatedly be attached and removed from any putter club. This grip extends from the upper end to the lower end of the putter grip which improves the golfer's ability to both grip the putter as well as index (or “wield”) the putter's orientation through the putting stroke without having to remove the existing, or factory installed putter's grip.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to golf putter grips, and more particularly, to putter grips designed to constrain a putter from twisting, spinning, turning or rotating during the putting stroke or to otherwise facilitate or improve the golfer's ability to both grip the putter as well as index (or “wield”) the putter's orientation through the putting stroke.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Arguably, the most important part of any golfer's game is the ability to make putts accurately and consistently. In most circumstances, the total number of putting strokes typically accounts for one-half or more of a golfer's total strokes during any round of play. As such, golfers and golf equipment manufacturers have dedicated significant resources towards the perfection of activities designed to facilitate the putting stroke. Producing putters along with other golf aids which improve the golfer's ability to consistently strike the golf ball on the intended line, with the intended force is a substantive task. Most putter club designs have tended to focus on the composition or configuration of the putter head. For that reason, the golf industry has focused much of their inquiries and development of (i) oversized putter heads, (ii) distinctive, or idiosyncratic shaped putter heads, and (iii) putter heads of varying weight, composition, and size, all designed to improve the “feel” or orientation of the putter through the putting stroke.

Beyond such, there have been various attempts to facilitate the putting stroke by means of varying the design, composition, and length of the putter shaft and the putter grip. Grip design, and composition are generally focused on restricting potential rotational misgivings during the putting stroke as well as to advance the golfer's ability to both grip the putter as well maintain the putter's orientation through the putting stroke.

Of note, many golfers, particularly those new to the sport, or those with some level of physical impediment, or limiting impairment tend to have various issues which limit their ability to hit the ball squarely on the face of the putter. In the off-chance that these golfers manage to produce a stroke which correspondingly aligns the face of the putter with the ball, there is still the predisposition to lose the intended putter orientation and line through the putting stroke largely because of rotating the club face either in or out during the putting stroke all of which causes the ball to swerve away from its intended line after impact with the ball.

Another problem with the introduction of oversized putter grips resides in the application or installation to any existing putter club. Typically, original equipment manufactured grips need to be removed in a labor-intensive process often involving the engagement of third party equipment potentially rending the club out of commission for several weeks. Not only is this an expensive, time consuming, process it permanently alters the grip and the dynamics of the putter to which it is attached. This is somewhat unappealing to many golfers as the permanency of this installation many limit or detract from continued putter usage.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of this invention is to provide an oversized, removable, easy to attach, improved putter grip which enhances a golfer's ability to complete a putting stroke while minimizing any unintended rotation within the grip, thereby enabling the alignment of the club face, in so doing, stroking the ball along the intended line of travel.

In accordance with the primary objective of this invention, utilization of this grip is non-destructive with respect to the manufacturer's originally installed putter grip in the sense that it requires no specialized tooling or equipment to install or remove which thereby provides a quick, convenient grip to apply to any of the golfer's putters if the golfer wants to provide a unified or a common feel amongst all his/her putters.

Further the increased volume of this overly-wide grip enhances the golfer's putter clasp more than such would be afforded by the somewhat narrower original equipment manufacturer's installed putter grip, thereby adding an enhanced feel and controllability through the putting stroke.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, this grip is constructed of an elongated wide body having a generally cylindrical structure with a pronounced elongated flat wall section primarily used to-assist in the indexing of the club head through the putting stroke. Preferably, this flat wall is generally aligned and parallel with the striking face of the putter to engage the forward hand and wrist of the golfer while engaged in striking the ball.

For clarity sake, and in accordance with still yet another aspect of this invention, a putter is comprised of a head, shaft, and a grip. The head has a heel, a toe, and a striking face. The shaft has a lower end attached to the head between the heel and the toe thereof, and has an upper end located above the lower end. The grip typically includes an elongated body, whether as provided by the original equipment manufacturer, or as per the tenants of this invention, as oversized and generally of a constant diameter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals represent like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a putter incorporating the oversized, clamshell grip as constructed in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional side elevation view of the oversized clamshell grip, in the open position of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom side plan view of the oversized clamshell grip, in the open position of FIGS. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional side elevation view of the oversized clamshell grip's construction componentry, in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

1. Resume

Pursuant to the embodiment of the invention, a putter grip is provided which has a generally cylindrical body extending from a lower end to an upper end. The body is overly wide compared to conventional putter grips, and has little or no taper to form a step between the lower end of the grip and the shaft. The step is suitable for receiving a golfer's index and middle fingers on opposite sides of the shaft to help ensure that the golf club will not twist or turn during a putting stroke and thus enhance the ability of the golfer to strike the ball squarely directing the ball along the intended line of travel. The cylindrical body, of the embodiment of this invention, has a portion cut away to produce an elongated flat surface extending from the lower end of the grip to the upper end. The flat surface is intended to be configured within the golfer's grip to further stabilize the club during the putting stroke.

2. Construction and Operation of the Embodiment of the Invention

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, a putter 10 is illustrated which is conventional in construction except for incorporating a grip constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention. The putter 10 thus includes a head 12, a shaft 14, and a grip 16.

The head 12 may be any commercially available putter head formed from aluminum, brass, or any other material commonly used in putter heads. As is conventional, the head includes a front toe 18, a rear heel 20, a flat striking face 22 designed to engage the ball.

The shaft 14 is also conventional and may be formed from a steel tube as illustrated or from graphite or any other material commonly used in shafts. The shaft 14 has an upper end 25 which is covered by the grip 16. The shaft 14 is generally cylindrical and, therefore, has a longitudinal axis.

The embodiment of the oversized clamshell grip 16 includes an elongated tubular molded body 30 having a first wall 32 that is partially cylindrical in shape and a second wall 34 that is generally flat. The body may be molded from a single material such as natural rubber, silicon rubber, plastic, or any other material commonly used in putter grips. The body 30 has an upper end 36 which is capable of opening or closing by way of a hinge 38 onto or into the upper end of the shaft 14.

The grip 16 is constructed such that the maximum diameter of the grip is formed by walls 32 and 34, whereby this oversized clamshell grip decreases flexing of the user's wrists during use.

When the grip 16 is made of a material with relevant low resilience and/or the shaft 14 has a substantial taper such that the inner perimeter of the grip 16 will not form a tight seal with the outer perimeter of the shaft 14, four cylindrical taper inserts 46, each made of flexible rubber or other similar polymeric material are used to minimize any potential gap between the grip 16 and the shaft 14. This gap is typically insignificant; however, to further lock the grip 16 in place over the shaft 14, four additional wedges 48 made from rubber, or other such polymeric material are inserted into the flat wall of the 34 of the grip 16.

It is contemplated that the user will engage the flat wall 34 with the palm of his or her forward hand and will engage opposing side 32 with his or her two fingers of the trailing hand on opposite sides of the shaft. The flat wall 34 therefore is aligned generally parallel with the flat striking space 22. The user's trailing hand then will engage the grip 16 generally around the partially cylindrical wall 32. This oversized clamshell grip 16 is thus designed to be used by both left and right-handed golfers based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 or similarly by rotating such 180 degrees around the shaft 14; however, users can essentially apply this grip on any side subject to user preference while still enhancing the over contact with the ball through the putting stroke.

While the grip 16 includes both the cylindrical wall 32 and the flat wall 34, its application to the club 10, and more specifically to the shaft 14 is locked into place by depressing the “press” button 50 thereby locking teeth 52 from side 34 into the opposing side 32 of the grip 16. This process of depressing the “press” button 50 for a second time releases the teeth from the grip 16 thereby allowing the user to remove such from the putter. It is this process of pressing button 50 to apply the grip as well as to release the grip from shaft 14 that makes this oversized clamshell grip both easy to apply, easy to remove and which facilitates the golfer's ability to use the putter club as intended by the original equipment manufacturer or as afforded embodiment of this invention. This process as per the prior resolves what is often an expensive, time consuming, process of permanently altering a putter grip and the dynamics of the putter to which is attached by the original equipment manufacturer.

Claims

1. a grip which is a clamshell grip consisting of two equal halves with a hinge joint mechanism (FIG. 38) located at the most proximal end of the grip and having a proximal axis which connects the two halves of the grip allowing for quick installation and universal use for both right and left-handed users, said proximal hinge joint allows for up and down motion in one plane and prevents less user interference leading to product longevity.

2. The grip as in claim 1 further comprising:

at least one rubber insert that is placed in a specific location throughout the interior within the housing of the grip and said strategically located rubber insert (FIG. 46) allows for a greater adoption rate for installing the grip over fixated putter grips with the pliability of said rubber insert which limits any shearing motion with the fixated grip and provides a more secure and tight installation.

3. The grip as in claim 1 further comprising:

a push button (FIG. 50) located at the distal portion of the clamshell which consists of locking-hook mechanisms with the most distal locking-mechanism consisting of larger and wider hooks (FIG. 51) to secure the grip properly when attached to the club and said hooks are purposefully wider and more tough than the proximal hooks, allowing increased security and longevity while also dampening vibration when the golf ball is struck with the grip and said proximal locking-hook mechanisms are purposefully thinner and less obtrusive (FIG. 52), allowing for closer contact with the fixated golf grip and thus a more secure attachment.

4. The grip as in claim 1 further comprising:

a pronounced section located at the proximal end of the grip (FIG. 36), that is similar to a bubble, that fully encompasses the hinge joint and said bubble allows for frequent use of the grip and has been built to reduce the normal range of motion of the hinge joint, thus increasing the structural integrity of the opening mechanism and acts to aid in the grip longevity and intuitiveness.

5. (canceled)