Golf Club Grip with Radial Locking Bushing for Adjustable Weight
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional golf club grips lack a structured mechanism to easily accommodate and adjust interchangeable counter-weight assemblies, leading to potential looseness and rattling issues, which affect the optimal distribution of mass for improved distance and accuracy.
Innovation Solution
A golf club grip with a specialized hole at the top to house a removable counter-weight assembly, featuring a machine screw on the center axis and a flexible threaded bushing that compresses to securely lock the assembly to the shaft, allowing for various weights and materials to be interchanged without direct metal-to-metal contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional golf club grips with simple holes are used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but they cannot securely accommodate counter-weight assemblies, leading to looseness and rattling
Solution Approach 1:
The counter-weight assembly is nested within the grip structure, with the weighted plug inserted through the grip body and secured by a set screw that threads into the grip's internal cavity. This nesting approach allows the weight assembly to be securely contained within the grip without requiring external mounting structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The grip is pre-configured with an internal cavity and threaded hole during manufacturing, allowing the counter-weight assembly to be securely mounted by simply inserting the weighted plug and tightening the set screw. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for complex field installation procedures.
2Reliability
If weights are directly attached to the shaft, then the attachment is simple, but direct metal-to-metal contact causes lack of damping and undesirable vibration
Solution Approach 1:
The grip body serves as an intermediary material between the counter-weight assembly and the shaft. The weighted plug passes through the grip, which provides resilient, non-metallic contact that dampens vibrations. This intermediary approach eliminates direct metal-to-metal contact while maintaining secure attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting system uses composite construction with the grip body made of resilient material (such as rubber or polymer) combining with the metal weighted plug and set screw. This composite structure provides both the structural integrity needed for secure mounting and the damping characteristics of non-metallic materials.
3Adaptability or versatility
If fixed weights are used in the grip, then the structure is simple, but the golfer cannot adjust the mass distribution for optimal performance
Solution Approach 1:
The counter-weight assembly is segmented into a modular design where the weighted plug is a separate, removable component that can be easily exchanged. The grip's internal cavity is designed to accommodate different weight configurations, allowing golfers to swap weights without complex tools or procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting system is designed to be dynamically adjustable, with the set screw providing easy on/off capability for weight changes. The threaded connection allows for quick installation and removal of different weight configurations, enabling adaptability without sacrificing ease of operation.
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
Enables secure, adjustable, and customizable counter-weight distribution along the shaft, enhancing golf club performance by preventing rattling and allowing precise mass modification for improved distance and accuracy.
Implementation Method 1
there should be resilient but firm mounting via intervening material such as the rubber-like material of the grip to introduce a desirable damping factor
Implementation Method 2
When compressed, the threaded bushing expands radially against the inner wall of the golf club shaft, developing strong compressive frictional force
Implementation Method 3
developing strong compressive frictional force that positively locks the grip and the entire counter-weight assembly in place
Data Source
AI summary
A golf club grip of conventional appearance and resilient material is configured internally at its upper end with a specialized hole for accommodating a counter-weight assembly, extending into the upper end of the shaft, that is user-selectable from various available weights, which may be added to the counter-weight assembly and secured in place by a machine screw, which tightened in place, compresses a compliant bushing expanding it radially against the inner wall of the shaft, locking the grip and counter-weight assembly to the shaft to act as a single unit. This configuration of counter-weight assembly known as “TOUR LOCK Technology” provides the ability to easily interchange counter-weight assemblies of different mass.