Inventors:
Smith, Earl Louis (New Castle, KY)
Wetenkamp, Clifford Edward (Eminence, KY)
Ferguson, Thomas Kelly (Eminence, KY)
Claims:
We claim
1. A cover for the head portion of a wood golf club comprising:
2. A cover as recited in claim 1 further including an eye for a lanyard and means for attaching the eye to the cover, including a length of material having each end caught at separate spaced apart points in the seam between the top and bottom panels.
Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention is a novel configuration for a cover for a wood golf club of the type generally described in the following issued U.S. patents:
Latina 3,055,409 Denkert 3,023,795 Rosenow, et al. 2,008,307 Noonan 2,788,826 Clark 2,779,374
The primary advantage of the golf club cover of the invention over those described in the aforementioned patents is that the cover of the invention is comprised basically of only two pieces of material whereas all known prior art covers which take the general shape of a wood club are comprised basically of three pieces of material.
The advantages derived from this distinctive configuration of the invention are primarily economy in manufacture, in that only two pieces must be initially cut from the stock material, and only a single line of stitching is required to assemble the cover.
A further novel feature of the invention is the manner in which a swiveling eye commonly used by retaining lanyards to hold a group of head covers together, is attached. In has been common practice in the past to attach such eyes through the surface of the head cover or by a loop having its ends caught in a single seam. The invention offers the advantage of spreading the forces tending to separate such loops from the club cover by providing a supporting loop for a swivel ring which loop has its opposite ends caught at separate points in the stitching of the cover.
Other objectives, advantages and various further features of novelty and invention will be pointed out or will occur to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the golf club cover of our invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the bottom side of the club cover of our invention.
FIG. 3 is a flat pattern for one piece of the golf club cover of our invention.
FIG. 4 is a flat pattern for the other piece of golf club cover of our invention.
FIG. 5 is a view of the swivel ring and retaining loop for the golf club cover of our invention.
FIG. 6 illustrates the manner in which the pieces of FIGS. 3 and 4 are assembled to achieve the club head cover of our invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, a club head cover of the invention is made up of a "Y" shaped top panel 1 combined with a uniquely shaped bottom panel 2. The bottom panel 2 is comprised of a bottle-shaped body 3 tapered at approximately the mid portion to a narrower upper half, and a head 4 generally circular in shape. The head 4 is connected to the body 3 by a neck portion 5. Arms 9 and 10 of the "Y" shaped top panel 1 extend generally around the top portion 4 with the ends thereof fitting into the respective sides of the neck 5 of the back panel 3. The outer edges 11 and 11a of top panel 1 are then joined to the outside edges 12 and 12a of panel 3 to complete the assembly of the club head cover.
The reduced area 14 of the back panel 3 is approximately equal in diameter to the head portion 4. As these portions overlie one another in the assembled cover this size relationship controls the contour of the side portions 9 and 10. Minor variations in this pattern will cause the side portions 9 and 10 to slant inwardly or outwardly as desired. The club head cover resulting from assembly of panels illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 will have the side portions 9 and 10 curving inwardly adjacent the under side of the curb head and toward the sole which is covered by the head portion 4 of panel 2.
Numerals may be added to the head section 4 of the cover by cutting out the desired number, as the Roman numeral III indicated, and attaching a contrastingly colored insert therebehind. Such an insert is represented by the dotted circle 15 surrounding the Roman numeral III of FIG. 4. The insert 15 may either be glued in place or held by stitching as that appearing at 16 around the three "I"s which make up the Roman numeral three.
A welting 17 may be incorporated along the assembly seam of the cover for decoration.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, a swiveling eye 20 is attached to the club head cover by a strap 21. The strap 21 passes through an open portion 22 in the body of the swivel eye 20, and its ends 23 and 24 are initially stitched to the opposite sides of the neck portion 5 of the back panel 2, as illustrated at numeral 26 in FIG. 4. The ends 23 and 24 of the strap 21 are also caught in the stitching combining the front and back panels 1 and 2 thus providing the swivel eye 20 with an exceptionally strong anchoring assembly.
Referring to FIG. 6, the manner in which panels 1 and 2 fit together is generally illustrated for clarity. The particularly unique feature of the invention in combining those portions of the cover extending across the bottom and top of the club head in a single piece is most evident in this illustration. This configuration permits the assembly of the club head cover by stitching along the single seam which marks the boundary between the front and back panels 1 and 2, which procedure results in a labor savings during assembly. The ends 23 and 24 of strap 21 are initially stitched to the side edges of the neck 5 of the bottom panel 2 which curves over the toe of the club and forms the toe of the cover of the invention.