GOLF CLUB GRIP

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a golf club grip with the look and feel of jelly or other aesthetically pleasing substances. More particularly, the grip is fabricated using a silicone rubber composition comprising polydimethylsiloxane, which provides the grip with a soft feel. In an innovative aspect of the present invention, an iterative method is used to add color pigments to the silicone rubber composition so that the grip's color matches the aesthetically pleasing colors of common substances such as jelly. In yet another aspect of the invention, the grip is translucent, allowing indicia to be formed underneath its outer surface.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to golf club grips. More particularly, the invention relates to golf club grips with the look and feel of jelly or other aesthetically pleasing substances.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Traditional golf club grips are commonly made from molded rubber materials or by wrapping a leather strap about the proximal end of the golf club. Grips such as these are generally tough on a golfer's hands. The problems associated with hard grips become even more pronounced when a golfer strikes hundreds of golf balls at a driving range, due to the continuous pressure applied by the golfer as he or she grips the golf club and strikes the golf ball.

In addition to being uncomfortable, traditional golf club grips are not aesthetically pleasing as they are manufactured in a limited set of colors, primarily black. Visually stimulating grips are just as important as comfortable grips because when a golfer swings a club, his or her cognition is influenced by all sensory inputs including touch and vision. Moreover, because a grip can be an expression of a golfer's personality, it is important to make golf club grips in a broader spectrum of colors in order to appeal to a more diverse demographic of golfers.

Prior attempts to improve traditional golf club grips have been limited to enhancing a grip's comfort level without any aesthetic adjustments. For instance, a silicone rubber golf club grip that is lightweight yet durable is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,158, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Similarly, a soft grip with an individually conforming hand surface is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,558,270. However, the prior art does not disclose a comfortable grip that also has aesthetically pleasing colors.

A need, therefore, exists for a golf club grip that provides both better comfort and aesthetic appeal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed towards a golf club grip comprising a polyorganosiloxane polymer, and one or more color pigments; wherein said golf club grip has a CIELAB L value between about 25 to 75, a CIELAB a value between about −30 to +30, and a CIELAB b value between about −30 to +30.

The present invention is also directed towards a method of manufacturing a golf club grip comprising the steps of providing a sample substance; measuring spectral data of the sample substance; fabricating a prototype of the golf club grip with a polyorganosiloxane polymer and one or more color pigments; measuring spectral data of the prototype; determining if the prototype has color space values comparable to the sample substance's color space values; and fabricating at least one golf club grip if the color of the prototype is comparable to the sample substance's color, else repeating steps the prior steps.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of golf club grip according to the invention, shown mounted on a golf club shaft.

FIG. 2 is an axial sectional view of the golf club grip.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart depicting a process for fabricating a golf club grip according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is the 1931 CIE Chromaticity Diagram.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of the 1976 CIELAB color space system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a golf club grip with the look and feel of jelly or other aesthetically pleasing substances. More particularly, the grip is fabricated using a silicone rubber composition comprising polydimethylsiloxane, which provides the grip with a soft feel. In an innovative aspect of the present invention, an iterative method is used to add color pigments to the silicone rubber composition so that the grip's color matches the aesthetically pleasing colors of common substances such as jelly. In yet another aspect of the invention, the grip is translucent, allowing indicia to be formed underneath its outer surface.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, golf club grip 10 is shaped and dimensioned to fit about the proximal end of a golf club shaft 12. As with most golf club grips, the present golf club grip 10 has a cavity 14, which is tapered as it extends from proximal end 16 to distal end 18. This allows the grip 10 to conform to the shape of conventional club shafts 12. A butt 20 may also be molded with a hole 22 in its center. Grip 10 may also be translucent, allowing indicia 24 to be placed underneath it.

In an advantageous aspect of the present invention, grip 10 can be fabricated from a silicone rubber comprising a polyorganosiloxane polymer, preferably polydimethylsiloxane (“PDMS”). Additionally, the silicone rubber composition can comprise fillers such as fumed silica, processing aids, cure accelerators, cross-link densifiers, texturizing or tackifying materials, and curing agents. Further discussion of suitable silicone rubber compositions can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,158, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Such silicone rubber compositions result in a grip 10 with a Shore A Durometer of about 20-70, preferably about 40-60, more preferably about 53. Moreover, the silicone rubber composition results in a grip 10 with a specific gravity of 1.00 or higher, preferably about 1.15. Although a silicone rubber composition comprising PDMS is used in the present invention, persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that a variety of other suitable polymeric materials can be used fabricate a grip 10 with comparable durometer and density values.

Although the aforementioned silicone rubber composition can fabricate a grip 10 with a soft feel, it results in a colorless grip because PDMS is a naturally colorless polymer. Visually stimulating grips are just as important as comfortable grips because when a golfer swings a club, his or her cognition is influenced by all sensory inputs including touch and vision. Thus, it is advantageous to add color pigments to the silicone rubber composition in order to produce a colored grip 10. FIG. 3 illustrates an innovative method 100, according to the present invention, whereby one can manufacture a grip 10 having a color that matches the aesthetically pleasing color of common substances including, but not limited to, jelly. The fabrication of grips 10 with such aesthetically pleasing colors represents a significant advance in the art because traditional grips have been manufactured only with a limited range of colors, usually black. Moreover, as discussed in greater detail below, the use of spectral analysis in method 100 allows one to more precisely match the color of grip 10 with the color of substances such as jelly. Desirable jellies may include spreadable jellies such as strawberry and grape, or jelly beans with a wide range of flavors or colors, or JELL-O®. The present invention is not limited to any particular type of jelly.

Method 100 comprises a plurality of steps. First, in step 110, a manufacturer provides a sample of a substance such as a jelly, erg., strawberry or grape jelly. In step 120, any suitable color measurement device, such as a spectrophotometer or a calorimeter, is used to measure spectral data for the sample substance and map that data onto a color space system, preferably the well-known three-dimensional CIELAB color space system. In one aspect of the present invention, the color measurement device is a hand-held device that can be placed over the sample substance. The sample substance's spectral data is measured several times in order to get accurate information about its color. Preferably, before measuring its spectral data, the sample substance is covered with a glass or other covering, which protects the color measurement device from being affected by the sample substance. Moreover, the glass or other covering preferably has a neutral refractive index so that it does not alter measurements taken by the color measurement device.

Suitable color measurement devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,020,583, 5,471,052, and 4,566,797 as well as Japan patent no. 59,060,324, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Generally, color measurement devices such as spectrophotometers and colorimeters measure the amount of light that is reflected from an object at intervals along the electromagnetic spectrum. Once spectral data is measured, a color measurement device mathematically maps that spectral data onto any one of several color space systems, including the well-known Chromaticity Diagrams developed by the Commission Internationale de'L'Eclairage (“CIE”) or International Committee on Illumination. Accordingly, one obtains a unique mathematical fingerprint of the sample substance's actual color, which can advantageously be used as a quality assurance benchmark for the subsequent manufacture of colored golf club grip 10. FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate two different CIE Chromaticity Diagrams, representing color space systems that can quantify the color of a sample substance.

FIG. 4. illustrates the well-known shark-fin shape of the 1931 CIE Chromaticity Diagram. The shark-fin shape substantially represents all the colors visible to the human eye. The corners of the diagram are red, blue-magenta, and green. The center of the diagram is white, which indicates that white light is the combination of all the individual perceived colors, and that white light can be divided into the other colors, e.g., by a prism. The inner triangle superimposed on the shark-fin has three apices located in the red, green, and blue (“RGB”) region of the CIE Diagram. The RGB region also represents the range of colors viewable on an RGB terminal. The 1931 CIE Chromaticity Diagram includes a horizontal axis for x-chromaticity coordinates and a vertical axis for y-chromaticity coordinates. Accordingly, a pair of values (e.g. in the form of (x, y)) can specify a color point on the 1931 CIE Chromaticity Diagram. In one aspect of the present invention, grip 10 is designed to emulate substances such as jelly having aesthetically pleasing colors defined by the space bounded with x-chromaticity coordinates from 0.2 to 0.5 and y-chromaticity coordinates from 0.15 to 0.45. It should be noted that x-chromaticity coordinates and y-chromaticity coordinates corresponding to white light are excluded from the scope of this invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates the CIELAB color space system based upon standards promulgated by the CIE in 1976. The CIELAB color space system evaluates color in terms of three axes of a color sphere, called L, a, and b. The “L” value is the axis in the color sphere which relates lightness and darkness on a scale from 0 (black) to 100 (white). The “a” value is the axis which relates color on a yellow to blue scale, with a 0 value in the center of the sphere, positive values toward the yellow, and negative values toward the blue. The “b” value is the axis which relates color on a red to green scale, with a 0 value in the center of the sphere, positive values toward the red, and negative values toward the green. In one aspect of the present invention, grip 10 is designed to emulate substances such as jelly having aesthetically pleasing colors defined by the space bounded with L values from 25 to 75, a values from −30 to +30, and b values from −30 to +30. In one particular embodiment, grip 10 is designed to emulate a substance with a color having the values L=32.9, a=−2.6, and b=−19.

Although heretofore the 1931 CIE Chromaticity Diagram and the CIELAB color space system have been used to describe color, other color spaces can also be used including but not limited to CIELUV, the 1964 CE Chromaticity Diagram, Pantone, Natural Color System, Munsell Color System, and the Hunter LAB System.

Referring back to FIG. 3, in step 130, a prototype colored golf club grip 10 is fabricated. More particularly, an uncured silicone rubber composition is first formed by blending or milling together various components of a silicone rubber composition including PDMS (discussed above) and one or more suitable color pigments. U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,987, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses suitable color pigments that can be used in the present invention. The color pigments are selected so that the resultant prototype colored golf club grip 10 would emulate the aesthetically pleasing colors of the substance provided in step 110. Additionally, the color pigments are also selected so that grip 10 is advantageously translucent allowing indicia 24 to be formed underneath golf club grip 10. By having indicia 24 placed underneath club golf grip 10, one eliminates the need to form indentations or raised surfaces on the outer surface and, thus, one avoids the negative tactile and aesthetic consequences of such indentations or raised surfaces.

In step 130, after mixing together the color pigments and other components of the uncured silicone rubber composition, the uncured composition is then placed in a mold and cured to form the colored prototype golf club grip 10. An exemplary grip fabrication process is discussed in the '158 patent, which was previously incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In step 140, one measures the spectral data of the prototype colored grip 10 using a suitable spectrophotometer or calorimeter. The spectral data is mapped onto a color space such as the 1931 CIE Chromaticity Diagram or the 1976 CIELAB color space system, and the resultant color space values are compared to those obtained for the sample substance in step 120. If the color space values for prototype grip 10 are comparable to those of the sample substance, then one can manufacture additional grips 10 based on the prototype in step 150. Otherwise, one returns to step 130 and modifies the silicone rubber formulation therein by adding or deleting color pigments. Steps 130 and 140 are repeated until one produces a golf club grip 10 with a color comparable to the sample substance. It should be noted that the acceptable color space values for grip 10 need not be the exact color space values for the sample substance, but can be in any range acceptable to the grip manufacturer such as ±3% from the measured color space values of the sample substance. Hence, colored golf club grips made under this method have a quantitative quality that is repeatable in a commercial manufacturing process.

In addition to fabricating a golf club grip 10 with a color that emulates an aesthetically pleasing substance, the present invention also contemplates that golf club grip 10 can emulate a combination of both the color and scent of an aesthetically pleasing substance such as a jelly. As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,963, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, such combinations may be selected from a group of combinations including red and cherry, green and lime, orange (color) and orange (scent), yellow and lemon, and purple and grape. The combination of color an scent in a golf club grip is an innovation heretofore unknown in the art.

While it is apparent that the illustrative embodiments of the invention disclosed herein fulfill the objectives of the present invention, it is appreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art. Additionally, feature(s) and/or element(s) from any embodiment may be used singly or in combination with feature(s) and/or element(s) from other embodiment(s). Therefore, it will be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and embodiments, which would come within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A golf club grip comprising: wherein said golf club grip has a CIELAB L value between about 25 to 75, a CIELAB a value between about −30 to +30, and a CIELAB b value between about −30 to +30.

a polyorganosiloxane polymer, and

one or more color pigments;

2. The golf grip of claim 1 wherein the polyorganosiloxane polymer is polydimethylsiloxane.

3. The golf club grip of claim 1 comprising x-chromaticity coordinates between about 0.2 to 0.5 and y-chromaticity coordinates between about 0.15 to 0.45 as defined by the 1931 CIE Chromaticity Diagram, and wherein no x-chromaticity coordinate or y-chromaticity coordinate corresponds to white light.

4. The golf club grip of claim 1 wherein the CIELAB L value=32.9, the CIELAB a value=−2.6, and the CIELAB b value=−19.

5. The golf club grip of claim 1 comprising a durometer between about 20 to 70 on the Shore A hardness scale.

6. The golf club grip of claim 5 comprising a durometer between about 40 to 60 on the Shore A hardness scale.

7. The golf club grip of claim 6 comprising a durometer of about 53 on the Shore A hardness scale.

8. A method of manufacturing a golf club grip comprising the steps of:

a. providing a sample substance;

b. measuring spectral data of the sample substance;

c. fabricating a prototype of the golf club grip with a polyorganosiloxane polymer and one or more color pigments;

d. measuring spectral data of the prototype;

e. determining if the prototype has color space values comparable to the sample substance's color space values; and

f. fabricating at least one golf club grip if the color of the prototype is comparable to the sample substance's color, else repeating steps (a) to (e).

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the spectral data is measured using a spectrophotometer or a calorimeter.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein step e) comprises determining if the prototype has color space values ±3% from the color space values of the sample substance.

11. A golf club grip manufactured according to the method of claim 8.

12. The golf club grip according to claim 11 wherein the polyorganosiloxane polymer is polydimethylsiloxane.

13. The golf club grip according to claim 11 wherein the golf club grip has a CIELAB L value between about 25 to 75, a CIELAB a value between about −30 to +30, and a CIELAB b value between about −30 to +30.

14. The golf club grip of claim 13 wherein the CIELAB L value=32.9, the CIELAB a value=−2.6, and the CIELAB b value=−19.

15. The golf club grip of claim 11 comprising x-chromaticity coordinates between about 0.2 to 0.5 and y-chromaticity coordinates between about 0.15 to 0.45 as defined by the 1931 CIE Chromaticity Diagram, and wherein no x-chromaticity coordinate or y-chromaticity coordinate corresponds to white light.

16. The golf club grip of claim 11 comprising a durometer between 20 to 70 on the Shore A hardness scale.

17. The golf club grip of claim 16 comprising a durometer between 40 to 60 on the Shore A hardness scale.

18. The golf club grip of claim 17 comprising a durometer of 53 on the Shore A hardness scale.