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US 2003/0199333 A1Published application
Hydroformed metallic golf club shafts and method therefore
AssigneeRoyal Precision, Inc.
InventorRobert Thomas Blough
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A golf club shaft, set of shafts, or golf clubs having shafts which have been produced by a process that includes a hydroforming step. By utilizing a hydroforming step, a metal or metal matrix composite golf club shaft can be formed into a variety of configurations or shapes heretofore not possible and can include hydroformed ornamental design features. The hydroformed shafts offer enhanced club feel and/or performance.
Claims17
A method for forming a hydroformed golf club shaft comprising the steps of:
- drawing a tube over at least one mandrel to reduce a diameter of said tube;
- optionally, varying a wall thickness in at least one portion of said tube during the drawing step;
- step forming said tube into a shaft blank, said shaft blank comprising a grip section, a tip section and an intermediate section, said step forming process imparting a desired diameter to each portion of said shaft;
- placing said shaft blank in a hydroforming apparatus having a mold cavity;
- expanding said shaft blank through hydroforming so that an outer diameter of said shaft substantially conforms to inner diameter dimensions of the hydroform mold cavity;
- and
- cutting said hydroformed shaft to a desired length.
4 more elements
A hydroformed golf club shaft, comprising;
- a grip section, a tip section, and an intermediate section, said intermediate section interconnecting said grip and tip sections, wherein said sections have been hydroformed, and wherein said sections have inner and outer diameters.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.