Golf Headcover and Method of Manufacture

Description

BACKGROUND

Golf headcovers protect golf clubs by reducing damage to the clubs from bruising, scratching or the elements. Golf headcovers reduce the clanging sounds of adjacent clubs that could be disruptive. Golf headcovers serve to quickly identify a specific club among a bag of clubs. Golf headcovers also enable a golfer to show some personality. Golfers often look for golf headcovers made from high quality materials and professional embroidery and having expert craftsmanship and uniqueness.

SUMMARY

This invention relates to a method for manufacturing a golf headcover that includes the steps of three dimensionally modeling a design pattern, molding a three-dimensional design from the pattern, securing the molded design to a base layer, and fabricating a headcover body. The design pattern may be fabricated of a plastic polymer material such as polyurethane. The design pattern and the base layer may be secured together at the same time that the design pattern is molded in a process called co-molding polyurethane. Alternatively, the design pattern may first be manufactured by inserting one or more layers of polyurethane into a mold, after which the polyurethane is hardened through heating, cooling, or using other bonding agents. The design pattern may be attached to the base layer through a process such as compression, although heat and/or pressure may also be used to fuse and bond the design pattern and base layer together. The resulting headcover may be in a molded plastic shape.

This invention relates to a method including the steps of supplying a headcover body fabricated from a first material, three-dimensionally modeling a pattern including voids, molding a three-dimensional design from the pattern using a second material different from the first material, and securing the molded design to the body.

The invention relates to a golf headcover that includes a headcover body made of a fabric material and a three-dimensional design made of a plastic material that is fused with the headcover body. The three-dimensional design may include voids. Additionally, one or more elastic bands may be provided that help secure the golf headcover to a golf club.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a golf headcover of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a three-dimensional design of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the three-dimensional design.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the three-dimensional design.

FIG. 5 is a view along line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of the three-dimensional design.

FIG. 7 is a view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of the three-dimensional design.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the manufacturing process of the golf headcover.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the manufacturing process of the golf headcover.

Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of constructions and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a golf headcover 10 according to the present invention. The golf headcover 10 may be used with any type of club, including drivers, wedges, putters, wood clubs, metal clubs, synthetic clubs, blade clubs, mallets, and the like. The headcover 10 is adapted to be positioned on and protect a head portion of a golf club. The headcover 10 includes a body 12 and a three-dimensional design 14 fused to a base layer 15. The body 12 includes an open end 16, a closed end 18, a first face 20 and a second face 22 (hidden from view). The open end 16 provides access to an internal cavity 24 where the head portion of the golf club is positioned. The body 12 can be fabricated of one piece of material or multiple pieces. One embodiment of the body 12 is discussed below. The body 12 is preferably fabricated of a non-rigid material such as vinyl fabric, however, other materials such as leather, cloth, fur, foam, other fabric types, and any other textile material can also be utilized.

The body 12 can optionally include elastic such as elastic bands 26 and the like to expand and constrict to assist in holding the headcover 10 on the club. As shown, there are two elastic bands 26, however, other numbers of elastic bands 26 can also be used. In other embodiments, such as when the headcover 10 is used with blades and mallets, elastic bands may not be present, but other securement devices, such as magnets, hook and loop fasteners, and the like, may be used to secure the headcover 10 relative to the club or other device. For instance, one of a hook and loop fastener may be sewn to the interior of first face 20 and the other of the hook and loop fastener may be sewn to the interior of the second face 22. This would enable the hook and loop fasteners of the first face 20 and the second face 22 to line up and engage with one another.

Turning now to FIGS. 2-8, the headcover 10 includes the three-dimensional design 14. The design 14 can include any types of artwork, indicia, letters, lines, shapes, drawings, images, and the like. As shown in the drawings, the design 14 is skull themed, however, the invention is not limited to that design 14. The design 14 may include at least one regularly or irregularly spaced void 30. The design 14 may be attached to the base layer 15 using a number of different processes. For instance, in one embodiment, the design 14 is attached to the base layer 15 through a process such as Co-molding PU (CPU Process) when the design 14 is made of plastic and is molded and bonded together with the base layer 15 when the base layer 15 is made of fabric, typically during the same molding process to form a single, integrated product. Alternatively, other methods can be utilized to attach the design 14 to the base layer 15, such as injection molding with fabric insert, heat welding, ultrasonic welding, thermoforming, three dimensional printing, lamination, coating, sewing, adhesive bonding, thermal bonding, electrospinning, vacuum forming, and other adhesive, molding, or heat related bonding.

The design 14 is preferably fabricated of material, preferably a plastic polymer material such as polyurethane (PU) and can be of a uniform or variable thickness. It should be noted that other materials, preferably plastic materials such as casting PU (CPU), thermoplastic PU (TPU), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), silicone, nylon, and rubber can also be used based on the preferences of a user, the desired application, cost, the manufacturing process, and the like. The design 14 has a periphery 32 and has thereon registration marks 34 and at leave one groove 36. The base layer 15 is preferably a fabric layer, however, other materials such as such as leather, cloth, fur, foam, other fabric types, and any other textile material can also be utilized. The base layer 15 may also have any types of artworks, indicia, letters, lines, shapes, drawings, photographs and the like printed or attached thereon.

With reference to FIG. 9, to fabricate the design 14, a pattern is selected and modeled using a process such as building a 3D model in CAD software, which is then exported to create a mold tool around the shape of that model, however, other processes can also be utilized. The pattern is then molded into the design 14 using a process such as Co-molding PU (CPU Process) or a similar plastic molding process, where one or more layers of PU or similar material fills the mold tool and is hardened and/or combined with other layers through heat, cooling, other bonding agents, or other similar methods. More specifically, during the CPU Process the plastic and fabric are joined within a mold, typically in a single molding cycle. The CPU Process may include one or more layers of PU, which are inserted into the mold by layer, before placing the fabric in the mold. Fabric is either placed into the mold as an insert or layered within the mold cavity. Then, molten plastic is injected or pressed over it, bonding the two materials as the plastic cools. This process allows the plastic to flow around or onto the fabric, creating a highly integrated, seamless bond between the two materials. Other processes to fabricate the design 14 can be utilized such as other types of plastic molding processes, injection molding, blow molding, 3D printing, thermoforming, extrusion molding, rotational molding, lamination, vacuum forming, sintering, heat welding, compression molding, compression blow molding, transfer molding, reaction injection molding, foam molding, and like processes. Other processes to fabricate the design 14 can be utilized such other types of plastic molding processes, 3D printing, heat welding and like processes.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the design 14 is then attached to the base layer 15 preferably by fusing the design 14 to the base layer 15 using a TPU heat welding process. In the heat welding process, the fabric and already molded plastic parts are placed together and heat and pressure are applied to fuse the components together. This is accomplished by softening or partially melting the plastic (usually at the surface) to bond it with the fabric upon cooling. This process does not use a mold but rather uses tools like ultrasonic welders, hot presses, or specialized heat-welding machines.

To form the body 12, a back material is formed by cutting a piece of fabric from a roll of fabric using a cutting die and a cutting beam press. The piece of back material is flipped so that the finished side of the fabric touches the table of a sewing machine. Two separate pieces of ¼″ elastic are sewn to the back material using an industrial walking foot sewing machine. The pieces of elastic are preferably sewn parallel to each other as well as parallel to the top and bottom of the head cover 10 and spaced out such as by 3 inches for example.

The back fabric with elastic applied is matched up with the base layer 15 with design 14 attached so that the two finished sides are touching. The two pieces are affixed such as by sewing inside out with a seam allowance in a horseshoe shape in certain embodiments. In other embodiments, the seam allowance may be in a different shape, such as the shape of the blade or mallet.

To produce the interior layer of the head cover 10, one piece of foam, one piece of fabric such as a faux fur, and one piece of a hot melt sheet are cut out using a cutting die and cutting beam press. The cut fabric, hot melt sheet and foam are stacked together in that order and then pressed in a fusion machine at a desired time, pressure and heat. This is done twice to make two pieces of the interior layer. The two pieces are stacked so that the fur sides are touching each other and secured together such as by sewing with a seam allowance.

The interior layer is inserted into the inside of the combined base layer 15 and back material with design 14 attached. The pieces are sewn around a bottom periphery to create a cylinder. Thereafter, the interior layer is pulled outside right and flipped over the backside of the finished pieces. The top of all pieces are tack sewed so they will not be able to be separated. The headcover 10 is then flipped inside out one last time and finished stitched with a seam all the way around the bottom edge. It should be noted that the body 12 can be fabricated and assembled in other ways and using other methods.

Alternately, the design 14 and the base layer 15 can be attached to the body 12 by stitching in the groove 36 to secure the design 14 to the body 12. Specifically, the registration marks 34 on the design 14 can be utilized to align the design 14 to the body 12 and to enable proper orientation of the design 14 relative to the body 12 prior to stitching. As shown, there are five registration marks 34, however, other numbers can also be used as well as other placements relative to the body 12. As shown, one registration mark 34a aligns with the closed end 18 of the body 12 and the other four registration marks 34 aligns with the elastic bands 26.

A stitching machine is used to attach the design 14 to the body 12 by stitching with thread in the groove 36 of the design 14. The thread can be embroidery thread, however, other types of thread such as floss or yarn can also be utilized. As shown, there is one groove 36 placed along the periphery 32 such that the stitching occurs in the groove 36. It should be noted that other numbers of the grooves and other placements of the grooves can be utilized in addition to the one groove 36 shown along the periphery 32. For example, there can be grooves 36 inward of the periphery 32 if desired.