U.S. patent application number 10/329569 was filed with the patent office on 2004-07-01 for protective strap for handle.
Invention is credited to Wang, Jack.
Application Number | 20040123429 10/329569 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32654323 |
Filed Date | 2004-07-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040123429 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wang, Jack |
July 1, 2004 |
Protective strap for handle
Abstract
A protective strap includes a base layer and a top layer bonded
to the base layer. The base layer is fastened to a handle of a
sporting apparatus or a sleeve fitted onto the handle. The top
layer, which is made of rubber and is smaller in thickness than the
base layer, is provided with not only shock-absorptive and
skidproof effects but also holding comfortableness. Additionally,
the top layer is larger in width than the base layer such that a
space is formed under where the top layer is overlapped while the
protective strap is spirally wound around the handle or the sleeve.
When the sporting apparatus is rotated in a direction opposite to a
direction around which the protective strap is wound, the top layer
can be partially deformed toward the space to absorb an external
force such that the protective strap will not be turnup.
Inventors: |
Wang, Jack; (Taichung Hsien,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BACON & THOMAS, PLLC
625 SLATERS LANE
FOURTH FLOOR
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22314
|
Family ID: |
32654323 |
Appl. No.: |
10/329569 |
Filed: |
December 27, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
16/436 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 49/08 20130101;
A63B 60/54 20151001; Y10T 16/498 20150115; A63B 60/00 20151001;
A63B 60/16 20151001; A63B 60/14 20151001 |
Class at
Publication: |
016/436 |
International
Class: |
A63B 059/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A protective strap for winding around a handle of a sporting
apparatus, said protective strap comprising: a base layer having a
top side and a bottom side; and a top layer made of rubber and
having a top side and a bottom side, said bottom side of the top
layer being bonded to said top side of said base layer, wherein
said top layer is larger in width than said base layer and said top
layer is smaller in thickness than said base layer.
2. The protective strap as defined in claim 1, wherein said top
layer ranges between 0.6 mm and 1.2 mm in thickness and said base
layer is 1.2 mm in thickness.
3. The protective strap as defined in claim 1, wherein said top
layer is larger in width than said base layer by from 2.0 mm to 3.0
mm at a lateral side thereof.
4. The protective strap as defined in claim 1, wherein said top
layer has a protruded lip transversally extending at a lateral side
thereof, and a recessed portion longitudinally extending along a
bottom side of said protruded lip.
5. The protective strap as defined in claim 1, wherein said base
layer is made of polyurethane (PU).
6. The protective strap as defined in claim 1, wherein said base
layer is made of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA).
7. The protective strap as defined in claim 1 winding on the handle
of a sporting apparatus, wherein a space is formed under where the
top layer is overlapped when the protective strap is spirally wound
around the handle.
8. A grip comprising: a tubular sleeve having an outer surface, a
first flange at one end thereof and a skirt portion at the other
end thereof, said sleeve being made of an elastic material, and a
protective strap including a base layer having a top side and a
bottom side, and a top layer made of rubber and having a top side
and a bottom side, said bottom side of the top layer being bonded
to said top side of said base layer, wherein said top layer is
larger in width than said base layer and said top layer is smaller
in thickness than said base layer; wherein the bottom side of said
base layer is fixedly wound around the outer surface of said sleeve
between said first flange and said skirt portion of said
sleeve.
9. The grip as defined in claim 8, wherein said skirt portion of
said sleeve is folded toward the first flange to form a second
flange, which tightly covers a free end of the protective strap
such that the protective strap is firmly fixed on the outer surface
of the sleeve.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates generally to sporting
equipment, and more particularly to a protective strap for use in a
handle of a sporting apparatus.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Generally speaking, a conventional protective strap, which
is made of natural or artificial leather, is wound around a handle
of a sporting apparatus, such as golf club, hockey stick, tennis
racket, etc., for holding by a user so as to form a grip of the
sporting apparatus. For example, the protective strap, which is
made of cowskin, is ineffective in shock absorption and is subject
to cause pains for the user's hand while waving the sporting
apparatus. Afterwards, manufacturers of protective straps made an
improvement that the cowskin was replaced by a polymeric material,
e.g. polyurethane (PU) is coated on a base layer made of nonwoven
cloth so as to form a strap body containing a gripping layer made
of PU and the base layer. The strap body is spirally wound around
the handle of the sporting apparatus. The PU material is provided
with flexibility, gripping comfortableness, and predetermined
degree of shock absorption for absorbing the shock generated by
hitting balls. In addition, the base layer of nonwoven cloth
enhances the tensile strength of the protective strap body to
prevent the top gripping layer of the protective strap body from
rupture caused by the strain while the protective strap body is
wound around the handle of the sporting apparatus.
[0005] However, since the top gripping layer of PU is provided with
a smooth and dampproof surface, the top gripping layer is
ineffective in absorbing or draining the perspiration generated by
the user's hand such that the sporting apparatus is subject to be
slippery. In addition to a long period of time of using the
protective strap, the user has to gradually make more efforts to
hold the grip of the sporting apparatus such that the
shock-absorptive effect of the protective strap will be
decreasingly reduced. In addition, the base layer of nonwoven cloth
is not provided with shock-absorptive effect such that the whole
protective strap is fairly ineffective in shock absorption. While
winding around the handle of sporting apparatus by a preload, the
top gripping layer of PU will be damaged by the strain, which is
resulted from that the magnitude of the top gripping layer is
greater in extension than the base layer, and the shock-absorptive
effect is thereby much reduced.
[0006] Moreover, the user may unconsciously make an action of
rotating the grip along with the sporting apparatus while feeling
nervous in a game. If the grip is rotated by the user in a
direction opposite to a direction in which the protective strap is
wound around the sporting apparatus, the strap body of the
protective strap will be outwardly turnup at neighboring overlaps
of the strap body and the protective strap will be accordingly
damaged in a short time.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide
a protective strap, which is effective in shock absorption,
skidproofness, and gripping comfortableness.
[0008] The second objective of the present invention is to provide
a protective strap, which strap body is free from being turnup
while a grip formed of the strap is rotated along with a sporting
apparatus.
[0009] The foregoing objectives of the present invention are
attained by the protective strap, which is formed of a base layer
and a top layer bonded to each other. The top layer, which is made
of rubber and is smaller in thickness than the base layer, is
provided with not only shock-absorptive and skidproof effects but
also holding comfortableness while the protective strap is wound
around a handle of the sporting apparatus or a sleeve fitted onto
the handle. Additionally, the top layer is larger in width than the
base layer such that a space is formed under where the top layer is
overlapped when the protective strap is spirally wound around the
handle or the sleeve. When a user rotates the sporting apparatus in
a direction opposite to a direction around which the protective
strap is wound, the top layer can be partially deformed toward the
space to absorb an external force, such that the protective strap
will not be turnup.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a protective strap in
accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present
invention wound around a sleeve which is fitted onto the handle of
a golf club shaft;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a partial exploded view of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged perspective view of the first
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of the protective strap
of the first preferred embodiment showing the protective strap is
wound around the sleeve;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the protective strap in
accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present
invention wound around the handle of a golf club shaft directly;
and
[0015] FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the protective strap of the
second preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a protective strap 10 provided by a
first preferred embodiment of the present invention is spirally
wound around a sleeve 11, which is fitted onto a handle 2 of a golf
club shaft 1, to form a grip with a predetermined length on the
golf club shaft 1. The protective strap 10 comprises a base layer
12 and a top layer 13.
[0017] The sleeve 11, which is a tube member having an opening at
one end thereof and the other end closed, is provided with an outer
surface 11a, a first flange 11c at the closed end thereof, and a
skirt portion 11d at the open end thereof. The sleeve 11 is made of
an elastic material and is sleeved onto and/or adhered to the
handle 2 of the golf club shaft 1 by an adhesive.
[0018] The base layer 12 is made of polyurethane (PU) and has a top
side 12a and a bottom side 12b. The base layer 12 has a uniform
thickness of 1.2 mm.
[0019] The top layer 13 is made of rubber and has a top side 13a
and a bottom side 13b. The thickness of the top layer 13
substantially ranges between 0.6 mm and 1.2 mm and is no larger
than that of the base layer 12. In addition, the top layer 13 is
provided with two protruded lips 13c and 13d, which respectively
transversally extend beyond two lateral sides of the base layer 12
such that the top layer is larger in width than the base layer 12
by a length of substantially from 2.0 mm to 3.0 mm.
[0020] Furthermore, the top layer 13 is directly bonded to the top
side 12a of the base layer 12 at the bottom side 13b thereof to
form a strap body. As shown in FIG. 4, the top layer 13 and the
base layer 12 are together spirally and overlappedly wound around
the sleeve 11 of the grip. A space 12c is formed under where the
top layer is overlapped, i.e. among overlapped the top layer 13,
the base layer 12, and the outer surface of the sleeve 11. The base
layer 12 is adhered to the outer surface 11a of the sleeve 11
between the first flange 11c and the skirt portion 11d directly or
by an adhesive. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the skirt portion 11d is
folded toward the first flange 11c to form a second flange, which
tightly covers a free end of the strap body spirally wound around
the sleeve such that the strap body is firmly fixed on the outer
surface 11a of the sleeve 11.
[0021] The protective strap 10 of the first preferred embodiment of
the present invention is characterized in that the top layer 13 is
made of rubber and is smaller in thickness than the base layer 12
and is larger in width than the base layer 12.
[0022] Accordingly, the present invention includes advantages as
follows:
[0023] 1. By virtue of the specificity of rubber, the grip is
excellent in shock absorption while holding by the user to hit
balls.
[0024] 2. The top layer of the strap of the grip is made of rubber
such that the strap body will not be strained and then damaged to
reduce the shock-absorptive effect as a result that the magnitude
of the extension is much great while wound around the sleeve of the
grip of the sporting apparatus by a preload.
[0025] 3. Additionally, the top layer of the grip is made of rubber
such that the grip will not be slippery even though the grip is
stained with the water or the perspiration of the user's hand, or
the grip is held to quickly hit balls.
[0026] 4. The top layer is smaller in thickness than the base layer
such that the comfortable effect of PU, of which the base layer is
made, will be more outstanding than the top layer.
[0027] 5. When the grip is rotated in a direction opposite to a
direction in which the protective strap wound around the sleeve,
since the top layer is larger in width than the base layer, such
that the top layer will be partially deformed toward the space and
absorb an external force, which causes damage, and the protective
strap will not be turnup.
[0028] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the protective strap 10 of a
second preferred embodiment of the present invention is formed of a
base layer 12 made of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and a
top layer 13. The base layer 12 is fixedly wound around the handle
2 of the golf club shaft 1 directly or by an adhesive so as to form
directly a grip on the handle of the golf club shaft without the
aforesaid sleeve. The top layer 13 is larger in width than the base
layer 12 by the two protruded lips 13c and 13d, which are
substantially from 2.0 mm to 3.0 mm in length. Two recessed
portions 13e and 13g are formed respectively along bottom sides of
the two protruded lips 13c and 13d and are arched in surfaces
thereof. In addition to the aforementioned advantages, the present
embodiment includes another advantages as follows. EVA of which the
base layer is made provides excellent shock-absorptive effect and
the lack of sleeve and the arched recessed portions 13e and 13g
effectively reduce the total weight of the grip.
* * * * *