U.S. patent application number 12/847496 was filed with the patent office on 2011-02-03 for golf club.
This patent application is currently assigned to BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Daisuke HORII, Yoshifumi NAKAJIMA, Takaharu TAKECHI, Tomoe WATANABE.
Application Number | 20110028232 12/847496 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43527540 |
Filed Date | 2011-02-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110028232 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
NAKAJIMA; Yoshifumi ; et
al. |
February 3, 2011 |
GOLF CLUB
Abstract
A golf club includes a shaft in which a brightness of a color of
the shaft from a grip side toward a head side is changed from
darkness to brightness in a plurality of stages.
Inventors: |
NAKAJIMA; Yoshifumi; (Tokyo,
JP) ; TAKECHI; Takaharu; (Tokyo, JP) ;
WATANABE; Tomoe; (Tokyo, JP) ; HORII; Daisuke;
(Tokyo, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SUGHRUE-265550
2100 PENNSYLVANIA AVE. NW
WASHINGTON
DC
20037-3213
US
|
Assignee: |
BRIDGESTONE SPORTS CO.,
LTD.
Tokyo
JP
|
Family ID: |
43527540 |
Appl. No.: |
12/847496 |
Filed: |
July 30, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/316 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 53/10 20130101;
A63B 69/3632 20130101; A63B 60/14 20151001; A63B 60/00
20151001 |
Class at
Publication: |
473/316 |
International
Class: |
A63B 53/00 20060101
A63B053/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 31, 2009 |
JP |
2009-179601 |
Claims
1. A golf club comprising a shaft in which a brightness of a color
of the shaft from a grip side toward a head side is changed from
darkness to brightness in a plurality of stages.
2. The golf club according to claim 1, wherein the grip side is
colored with a navy blue and the shaft is colored with a dark gray
to a bright gray toward a front end side.
3. The golf club according to claim 1, wherein the front end side
of the grip, which is installed in the shaft, has the same color as
a color of the grip side of the shaft.
4. A golf club comprising: a shaft, having a first end portion and
a second end portion; a grip, disposed at the first end portion;
and a head, disposed at the second end portion, wherein the shaft
is colored so that a brightness of a color from the first end
portion toward the second end portion is changed from darkness to
brightness in a plurality of stages.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a golf club with a
specially revised shaft, particularly, a golf club applied for
mounting a long shaft.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] As an invention relating to surface painting of a shaft of a
golf club of the related art, that described in JP-A-2007-111176 is
known. Regarding carbon shafts (CFRP), from the viewpoint of design
properties or golfer psychology etc., there is that which is
subjected to gradation painting, and in JP-A-2007-111176, a paint
of a first color is sprayed to a first area in a longitudinal
direction of a shaft, a paint of a second color is sprayed to a
second area in a second area in the longitudinal direction of the
shaft, and a gradation portion, which gradually changes from the
first color to the second color, is provided on an overlap of the
first area and the second area. In addition, the related art
includes the steps of using a first spray gun and a second spray
gun in which a position and a movement speed in the longitudinal
direction of the shaft are controlled independently of each other,
so that the first spray gun sprays the paint of the first color,
the second spray gun sprays the paint of the second color, and the
paint of the first color and the paint of the second color are
painted in overlapping manner with a wet-on-wet technique by the
control of the first spray gun and the second spray gun, whereby
the gradation portion is formed.
[0005] JP-A-2007-111176 is limited to mainly disclosing a painting
technology, and does not disclose how a color or gradation portion
affects the psychology of the golfer.
SUMMARY
[0006] The present invention has studied a method of coloring to
improve confidence regarding the core when seen briefly for golfer
psychology during address, even for a long shaft such as a driver
or a fairway wood, for example, a driver having a shaft of 45
inches or more.
[0007] According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a
golf club including a shaft in which a brightness of a color of the
shaft from a grip side toward a head side is changed from darkness
to brightness in a plurality of stages.
[0008] According to the present invention, by changing the
brightness of the color of the shaft from a grip side to a head
side, from darkness to brightness in a plurality of steps, when a
dark color side is gripped and the head side of the brightest color
is seen, it appears shorter than the actual club. As a result, a
probability of a golfer hitting the ball with the core is high.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The present invention will become more fully understood from
the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying
drawing which is given by way of illustration only, and thus is not
limitative of the present invention and wherein:
[0010] FIG. 1 is an overall diagram of a golf club according to one
aspect of the invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a front view when a grip of the golf club is
gripped;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a grip side of a shaft of the
golf club; and
[0013] FIG. 4 is a front view showing another aspect of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0014] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention
will be described.
[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, a golf club of the present invention is
configured so that a head is installed on a front end of a shaft 1
and a grip 3 is installed on a proximal end thereof. In the shown
embodiment, a driver is shown, the length of the shaft is 45 to 46
inches, and the head volume is 450 cc to 460 cc. The shaft 1 was
divided into a plurality of color portions in the longitudinal
direction except for a portion where the grip 3 was mounted. The
shaft was divided into three portions in the shown example (it need
not necessarily be divided into equal parts). The grip 3 side was a
first painting portion 1A of darkest color (a navy blue in this
example), the middle portion was a second painting portion 1B
colored with a dark gray, and the head 2 was a third painting
portion 1C colored with a bright silver. Furthermore, a front end
side was also a dark color portion 3A of the same color of the
first painting portion 1A.
[0016] When the above-mentioned golf club was gripped by a golfer
(see FIG. 2), the dark color portion 3A of the grip 3 and the
overall coloring of the shaft 1 is visible to the golfer, and
during address, compared to a case where the overall shaft 1 is
colored with a single color of the same brightness, for example,
navy blue, the length of the grip is psychologically felt to be
shorter. Since the front end side of the shaft 1 is bright silver,
the brighter of the color, the closer it appears due to the color
expansion effect, and, as a result, the shaft 1 feels short.
[0017] In an embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the first painting portion
(the navy blue) was 1A, the second painting portion (the dark gray)
was 1B, and the third painting portion (the bright silver) was 1C,
and after the painting of the navy blue and the gray was carried
out, a ring-shaped pattern 30 was applied using the navy blue color
at intervals of a predetermined length, and a striped pattern 31
arranged on the circumference along the axial direction is applied
between the ring-shaped patterns 30. Ground colors of the first and
second painting portions 1A and 1B are seen between the striped
patterns 31.
[0018] Various researches have been made regarding how the color
acts on the psychology of a person. Here, there are seven colors of
light: a red, an orange, a yellow, a green, a blue, a dark blue,
and a violet. As to the color approaches the violet from the red,
"a mind relaxation" and "relax" is provided. On the contrary, as
the color approaches to the red, "the mind is energized" and
"fighting spirit is encouraged." In the present embodiment, by
making the grip side navy blue, the mind of the golfer is not
disturbed and relaxes, and an effect of improving the probability
of good shot can be expected. Furthermore, regarding the psychology
of feeling the weight, the weight is approximately the same as the
actual weight with the white color, and, with respect to an actual
weight of 100, with the dark gray, the weight is felt to be 155,
with red, 176, and with black, 187. Thus, in the case in which the
front end side of the shaft is colored with bright silver which is
close to white, the shaft is felt to be light, and an image of
easily swinging the club is encouraged.
[0019] A case in which a plurality of ring-shaped patterns 30 as
shown in FIG. 3 are formed at regular distances also has an action
of making the length of the shaft feel short.
[0020] The first and second painting portions 1A and 1B, which are
seen from the gap of the striped pattern formed between the
ring-shaped patterns 30, also makes the length of the shaft feel
shorter than it actually is.
[0021] FIG. 4 shows another embodiment, and unlike FIG. 3, a stain
portion 32 of a white water color is formed on the shaft in the
shape of a circumference on the first painting portion 1A of the
navy blue at a predetermined distance, and as it goes to the shaft
front end side, the area of the stain portion 32 is reduced. The
stain portion 32 may be formed on a surface (a front surface) of
the shaft 1 which is seen at least at the time of address of the
golfer. In addition, the stain portion 32 is subjected to gradation
painting. Even in the embodiment, the second painting portion 1B
was colored with the dark gray, and the third painting portion 1C
was colored with the bright silver.
[0022] In the golf club 24 equipped with the shaft of the
embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the shaft was felt to be shorter than
it actually was by 62% of golfers among 24 golfers. In the
embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the shaft was felt to be shorter by 54%
of golfers among 41 golfers.
[0023] A test result of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 and the club
having the shaft painted with only the navy blue is shown
hereinafter. The shaft lengths of both clubs are identical to each
other.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 upper right initial meet striking striking B
S club HS speed ratio angle angle spin spin carry bre total
embodiment 44.1 59.9 1.359 18.2 -0.1 2807 21 214.1 -1.5 225.1
comparison 44.1 59.7 1.354 18.5 0.5 3108 99 214.8 4.4 223.7
example
[0024] The "HS" in table 1 shows a head speed in units of m/s. The
"initial speed" is a speed immediately after the impact of a ball
(m/s). The meet ratio is a value of the ball initial speed divided
by the head speed. The "upper striking angle" is the up and down
striking angle (degrees) of the ball. The right striking angle is
the striking angle of the ball in a right direction (degrees). The
"-" denotes the striking angle (hook) to the left in the case of a
right-handed golfer. The "+" denotes a striking angle (slice) to
the right. The "B spin" denotes a back spin (rpm). The "S spin"
denotes a side spin (rpm). The "carry" is the flight distance which
is the distance until the ball lands on the ground. The "bre"
denotes left and right falling positions. "-1.5" is in units of
"degrees", and indicates striking to the left by 1.5.degree.
further than a straight line of flight. The "total" denotes the sum
flight distance of the carry and the run (displayed in yards).
[0025] In the present invention, the shaft is felt to be shorter,
so that the meet ration is also improved, the grasp of the ball is
also satisfactory, and the flight distance is also extended.
* * * * *