US2836420A - Handle grips and method of making them - Google Patents

Description

May 27, 1958 R. E. LAMKIN EIAL 2,836,420

HANDLE GRIPS AND METHOD OF MAKING THEM Filed Aug. 19, 1954 FIG. 3 I8 16%;

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26 4&31103 2 INVENTORS MAM-m United States Patent HANDLE GRIPS AND METHOD OF MAKING TEEM Robert E. Lamkin and Elver l5. Lamkin, Chicago, IlL,

assignors to Lamkin Leather (30., Chicago, ill., a corporation of lllinois Application August 19, 1954, Serial No. 450,945

4 Claims. (Cl. 273--81.6)

and. with pleasantly yielding surfaces between the, joints which afford an improved safety grip for the continuous manual engagement or hold on the handle to which the grip is applied.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method of making handle grips in which relatively thin strips are secured together in a particular manner to form narrow grooved butt edges turned inwardly so that they are not easily turned outwardly or puckered by continued use.

Still further objects of the invention are to provide an improved method of joining thin strips of handle grip materials; to provide an improved cushioning eifect between the butt edges of the grip material; to provide an improved appearance of the grip Without sacrificing anything in the way of applying a grip of this kind to a handle; and to provide a pleasing variable appearance of the grip by combining strips of different colors or appearance.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the specification and will be apparent from the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is an elevated view of a handle of a golf club to which a grip of this invention is applied;

Figs. 28 inclusive illustrate the progressive steps in forming a handle grip in accordance with this invention of which,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of one strip of material from which the handle grip is made out to the proper width;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a strip with opposite edges angularly cut or skived to provide thin attachment edges.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing two strips of material placed in opposite relative position before they are attached.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing stitching for attaching the adjacent strips of Fig. 4 at one edge of each strip.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view illustrating the strips stretched out in flat relation.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing the strips extended as in Fig. 6 but with the projecting ridge formed by the stitching flattened at one side into the material itself; and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view illustrating the contact of the intermediate stitch portion and the curled outer edges of the joint strips as applied to a handle as shown in Fig. 1.

In grips for golf clubs and the like, it is found desirable to have a surface which is not too. smooth such as produced by a flat strip with straight edges abutting flatly together, but rather a surface to which a slightly yielding grip material is provided with closely adjacent small grooves extending continuously around the handle when the grip material is spirally Wound thereon.

The present invention proposes to make the strips of leather not too thick which have a pleasing feeling when gripped by the hands as they adhere readily to the outer surface of the leather and because of the grooves being closely spaced, the hands do not tend to. slip or become disengaged from the handle.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the grip comprises a continuous double strip of materials it? and 12 which are sewed together and wrapped spirally about a shaft or handle 14 by connecting one end of the double strip to the lower portion of the handle and winding the doubie strip tightly about the. handle overlapping it at the outer end thereof and securing the outer end to the shaft or handle by means of a cap 161, in a well known manner. This method of wrapping and attaching is the conventional method of applying a grip in strip form to a handle and the present invention relates particularly to the method of forming the grip as well as to this type of grip in connection with a handle.

In forming the grip, the strips 10 and 12 are first cut to the desired width and thickness in the cross section 1th: in Fig. 2. The opposite edges at the same side of this strip are then angularly cut or skived to produce the inclined edges 18 as shown in Fig. 3 and the later figures.

Two similar strips 1% and 12 are then placed oppositely together as shown in Fig. 4; the cut edges 18 at the outsides and the adjacent thin edges on one side are joined by a continuous line of stitching 29 which tightly fastens the two strips together. The opposite thin edges are preferably formed with slight curls 22 which extend in the direction of the edges 18 so that when the joined strips are opened as shown in Fig. 6, the edges connected by the stitching 26 will form a somewhat angular projection 24 at the side opposite the outer faces of these strips. If the strips are flattened as shown, there will be an inwardly curving groove 26 in the outer face opposite the projection 24.

The next operation as shown by Fig. 7 is to flatten the projection 24 at one side or the other of the stitching by running this side of the double strip under a roller 28 against the surface 30 at the other side as represented in Fig. 7 which will partially flatten the projection into one of the strips so that the back surface of the double strip is practically flat and the curl 22 at the edges tends to turn inwardly as represented by -Fig. 8. In this condition, the pressure of the roller 28 is removed and the strip with the groove 26 and the curls 22 at the edge is ready to be applied to a shaft or handle.

When the double strip is wound spirally about a handle, the abutment of the edges of each succeeding spiral tends to turn the curls inwardly to form grip engagement grooves 32 which are similar in depth and appearance to the grooves 26 between the connected strips 10 and 12.

With this construction, it is a simple and relatively inexpensive method of making a double strip and applying it to a handle. The result is a grip material which has narrow strips connected by frequent grooves, the outer abutting edges of the strip having resilient curls which tend to soften the contact of the grip when engaged manually so that the double grooves between the strips may be made of leather or other material of one color whi1e-1theiother strip isflof another color. In other words, the strip 10 may be made of red leather and the strip. 12 mayf be ,made 10f black or blue leather, :thus

' outdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

;jW.e clairn: 1 ,1 V .1 1. A'duplex handle grip'for playing clubs, implements and'the like,.comprising a pair of similarnarrow strips of flexible grip material stitched togetheralong one edge of eachstrip and jointly wrapped spirally around the handle in a continuoustabutting relationwith the stitched a; V f strips add materially to the feel of the grip and the nonslipping contact of the hands, therewith. 1 V To make this double grip more attractive, one of the edges turned, inwardly against the handle to provide an and all edges curled inwardly to provide two grooves for each applied portion ofthe grip.

router rounded V-groove, and the outer edge of each strip curled inwardlyto providerwith the adjacent spiral 3. The method of making an'elongated dupleir grooved handle grip wspirally applied to the handles of playing clubs, implements, and the like, which comprises placing,

two similar strips of flexible handle material face'to face,

stitching them together along the corresponding edge of each strip, unfolding the strips and applying the said faces to the handle in continuous abutting relation, forming a 7 central outwardly rounded V-groove' between thejoined strips, and curlingfthe outer unstitched edges of the strips inwardly to form; a second outwardly-rounded V-groove for each applied portion of the jointstrips.

4. In the method of makinga duplex handle gripac- V cording to claim 3, the added step of angularly skiving the rear edges of each "strip before the strips are stitched I together and curling the unstitched edges rearwardly before the joint strips, are applied to a handle to produce each portion of the applied joint two V-grooves for strips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 298,288 "Cox May 6,1884- 1,320,413 Reznic'ek Nov 4, 1919 2,116,621 Dixon May 10,193 2,207,062 Lamkin July 9, 1940 2,513,655 Lamkinet al. July 4, 1950 2,671,661 Goodwin Mar. 9, .1954

FOREIGN PATENTS 1 128,318 Australia July 13, 1948

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