Golf Grip Force Sensor with Deformable Projections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Golfers face difficulty in detecting excessive manual grasping force on the club during a swing, leading to suboptimal performance due to the club face rotating or flying out of hands, and it is challenging to recognize an overly tight handhold without intuitive feedback.
Innovation Solution
A force sensor mounted on the golf club grip, comprising a base member with high resistance to elastic deformation and an overlying member with low resistance, which deforms to expose projections when excessive force is applied, providing proprioceptive feedback through tactile engagement with the golfer's hands.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a golfer applies greater manual grasping force to the club, then the club is held more securely, but the club face rotates or flies out of hands due to excessive force
Solution Approach 1:
The force sensor provides real-time proprioceptive feedback to the golfer about the amount of force being applied to the grip. When excessive force is detected, the sensor alerts the golfer through tactile or visual signals, enabling them to adjust their grip pressure immediately to prevent club face rotation or loss of control
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces intuitive mechanical feedback (which is absent) with an artificial sensing system that uses force sensors, electronic processing, and alert mechanisms to provide the feedback that would naturally occur through proper proprioception
2Strength
If a golfer applies excessive manual grasping force to the club, then the club is held tightly, but performance becomes suboptimal and club may be lost
Solution Approach 1:
The force sensor continuously monitors grip pressure and provides feedback alerts when the force exceeds optimal levels. This enables the golfer to maintain appropriate grip strength for secure club holding while avoiding excessive force that would degrade swing performance or cause club loss
3Device complexity
If no force feedback mechanism is provided, then the device remains simple, but the golfer cannot detect excessive grasping force
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces electronic force sensing and processing systems to replace the absent natural feedback mechanism. While this increases device complexity, it enables detection and communication of excessive grasping force levels that would otherwise be undetectable to the golfer
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The force sensor effectively alerts golfers to excessive grasping force, preventing performance issues by allowing them to adjust their grip pressure, ensuring proper swing execution and reducing the risk of club loss during the swing.
Implementation Method 1
The overlying member has a relatively low resistance to elastic compressive deformation when a manual grasping force is applied to them during the golf swing
Data Source
AI summary
A force sensor is provided for mounting on an outside lateral surface of a golf club grip to alert a user when an excessive manual grasping force is applied to the grip during a golf swing.