WO1996015833A1

WO1996015833A1 - Improvements in and relating to golf clubs

Info

Publication number: WO1996015833A1
Application number: PCT/GB1995/002688
Authority: WO
Inventors: David Brian Gore
Original assignee: David Brian Gore
Priority date: 1994-11-17
Filing date: 1995-11-16
Publication date: 1996-05-30
Also published as: AU3875195A; GB9423168D0

Abstract

There is described a golf club (10) comprising an elongate shaft (12) having a head (16) attached to one end thereof and a hand grip (14) attached to the opposite end, the shaft being in at least two sections (12a, 12b) and arranged such that one section can slide longitudinally relative to the other section thereby changing the club between an extended play position and a retracted stowed position and includes releasable locking means (20, 22, 23, 24) for locking the shaft in said play position.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO GOLF CLUBS

This invention relates to golf clubs primarily intended for use when travelling.

A full set of golf clubs tends to be quite a large item of luggage which is inconvenient to handle when travelling. It is therefore the aim of the present invention to provide a golf club which is ideally adapted for portability and ease of handling, particularly when a whole set of such adapted clubs are being transported.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a golf club comprising an elongate shaft having a head attached to one end thereof and a hand grip attached to the opposite end, the shaft being in at least two sections and arranged such that one section of the shaft can slide longitudinally relative to the other section thereby changing the club between an extended play position and a retracted stowed position and includes releasable locking means for locking the shaft in said play position.

Preferably, the two sections of the shaft are arranged such that one section of the shaft can slide inside the other section.

Conveniently, this is achieved by cutting a conventional tapering shaft in two in a position such as to allow the maximum length of telescopic contraction. Thus, there are two separate sections, a wider "outer" section and a narrower "inner" section.

Preferably, the locking means comprises a thumb spring which is inserted into the interior of the inner section, through a slot cut in the shaft wall, the spring being fitted such that part of the spring protrudes through the slot and can be manually depressed. The outer section is slotted from the cut end to a length approximately equal to the length of the slot in the inner section, such that when the narrower inner section is placed within the wider outer section, the two slots can be aligned by rotating the two sections relative to each other until the protruding part of the thumb spring automatically engages the aligned slots, thereby locking the shaft against accidental retraction.

Due to the outswing and centrifugal force incurred when using the golf club the matching inner section will tighten slightly, therefore, when it is desired to contract the shaft, it may be necessary to place the club upside down, the stub end grip given a sharp tap against a hard surface at the same time depressing the thumb spring and allowing the inner section to be pushed right up inside the outer section, reducing the overall length of the club by approximately one half.

One of the conventional shaft types which is commercially available has, as well as being tapered, a series of steps along the entire length of the shaft, each step being approximately two inches long. This tapered locking system can be applied to other stepped shafts which involve any form and variation of steps.

The present invention utilises this stepped feature of such a shaft, by cutting the two slots in the inner and outer sections in such positions that when the two are aligned, the inner section is disposed within the outer section to the length of two "steps", i.e approximately four inches. Thus, in the extended play position, the club would be approximately four inches short, so part of this shortfall is overcome by fitting a standard and commercially available extension to the stub (grip end) of the shaft. Extensions are not fitted to the tip (head) end.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a shaft for a golf club, the shaft being in at least two sections and arranged such that one section can slide longitudinally relative to the other section thereby changing the shaft between an extended play position and a retracted stowed position and including releasable locking means for locking the shaft in said play position.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates the golf club according to the present invention, when in the extended play position,

Figure 2 illustrates the golf club of Figure 1, when in the retracted stowed position,

Figure 3 illustrates the locking mechanism,

Figure 4 is a top view of the shaft showing the slot in the outer section,

Figure 5 is a side view of the outside of the shaft showing the position of the locking mechanism, and

Figure 6 is a part sectional view showing the interior of the shaft when the club is in the extended, play position.

Referring to the drawings, a retractable golf club 10 comprises a shaft 12 having a hand grip 14 attached to one end and a head 16 attached to the other end.

The shaft 12 is cut at position A into two sections, an upper "outer" 12a and a lower "inner" 12b, the inner 12b being tapered and narrower than the outer 12a and being capable of full retraction inside the outer 12a.

The two sections 12a and 12b are releasably locked against accidental retraction by means of a thumb spring 20 which is dimensioned such as to be an engineered fit inside the inner 12b in the position shown in Figures 5 and 6.

In order to fit the thumb spring inside the inner 12b, a slot

22 and an anchor hole 24 are formed in the inner 12b in the positions shown in Figure 4. The slot 22 is of a length such that the dimension x of the thumb spring 20 will fit exactly within the slot. Then, the thumb spring is inserted in an arcuate movement, as shown by the arrow in Figure 5, until the tail 20b of the thumb spring 20 locates within anchoring hole 24 and the head 20a of the thumb spring 20 springs up out of the slot 22. In this position, the head 20a of the thumb spring 20 may be depressed at will, but will return to the position shown in Figure 5 upon release.

The outer 12a also has a slot 23 cut to the same length as slot 22, extending towards the handle end from the point A, such that when the inner 12b is disposed within the outer 12a, the two parts of the shaft can be rotated relative to each other until the head 20a of the thumb spring 20 is aligned with slot

23 and pops out to lock the two shaft sections 12a, 12b against accidental retraction during play. It is important that the two slots 22 and 23 are of exactly the right length to ensure that when the head 20a of the thumb spring is located in the slots, there is very little or no movement which would detract from the quality of play. For example, for a 70mm by 1.5mm thumb spring, the slots 22, 23 would have to be 15mm by 1.5mm. Using this system thumb springs and slots may involve other dimensions.

In order that the thumb spring may locate more accurately within the shaft inner 12b, a location pin 20c may be included at the lowermost point of the spring, which would engage with a locating hole 25 or depression in the interior of the inner 12b. If the club is to be used as a driver, or by a tall player, it is possible to insert a commercially available shaft extension butt between the shaft upper 12a and the handle 14.

To retract the club from the position shown in Figure 1 to than shown in Figure 2, the thumb spring head 20a is depressed, at the same time applying a sharp tap to the grip (butt) end of the club, such as might be achieved by striking the handle firmly against a hard surface, such that the weight of the head 16 will cause the inner 12b to telescope within the tapered outer 12a.

To extend the club, one simply pulls the inner 12b out of the outer 12a, or indeed simply allows the inner 12b to slide out under gravity or assisted by a slight throwing motion, followed by a relative rotation of the two parts until the slots 22, 23 are aligned to release the thumb spring 20 and lock the inner 12b and the outer 12a together.

Thus it can be seen that a whole set of these clubs, when in the fully retracted position, would be relatively easily transported in a specially designed smaller case or bag which may also, if desired, include other golfing equipment such as clothing, shoes, tees, etc. to provide a complete golfing set.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A golf club comprising an elongate shaft having a head attached to one end thereof and a hand grip attached to the opposite end, the shaft being in at least two sections and arranged such that one section can slide longitudinally relative to the other section thereby changing the club between an extended play position and a retracted stowed position and includes releasable locking means for locking the shaft in said play position.

2. A golf club according to Claim 1 wherein the two sections of the shaft are arranged such that one section of the shaft can slide inside the other section.

3. A golf club according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the shaft comprises two separate sections, a wider "outer" section and a narrower "inner" section.

4. A golf club according to any of the preceding Claims wherein the locking means comprises a thumb spring which is inserted into the interior of the inner section, through a slot cut in the wall of the inner section, the spring being fitted such that part of the spring protrudes through the slot and can be manually depressed.

5. A golf club according to Claim 4 wherein the outer section is also slotted, such that when the narrower inner section is placed within the wider outer section, the two slots can be aligned by rotating the two sections relative to each other until a part of the thumb spring automatically engages both slots, thereby locking the shaft against accidental retraction.

6. A golf club according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein the overall length of the club may be reduced by approximately one half by retracting the club into the stowed position.

7. A shaft for a golf club, the shaft being in at least two sections and arranged such that one section can slide longitudinally relative to the other section thereby changing the shaft between an extended play position and a retracted stowed position and including releasable locking means for locking the shaft in said play position.

8. A shaft according to Claim 7 wherein the shaft sections are each tapering in a stepped configuration and when in the extended play position, one section of the shaft overlies the other section of the shaft to the extent of two "steps" or other configurations according to the design of the tapered shaft.

9. A golf club substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

10. A shaft for a golf club, the shaft being substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.