Safety athletic pole

An athletic pole including a handle, a shaft, and a handle-to-shaft transition assembly, said transition assembly adapted for allowing the handle to articulate relative to the shaft, said transition assembly comprising:

• (a) said handle including a handgrip-engaging portion and a radially enlarged handle base on said handgrip-engaging portion;
• (b) said shaft including a main shaft portion and a radially enlarged shaft base on said main shaft portion, said shaft base comprising a collar for receiving the main shaft portion and an enlarged handle base support formed with said collar and defining a handle-base-engaging surface correspondingly sized to the handle base for permitting mating engagement of the handle-base-engaging surface and the handle base, said shaft base further comprising an annular raised alignment post and an annular rim extending around the periphery of the shaft base, said alignment post and said rim limiting the movement of the handle base across the shaft base during handle articulation by forming an inner boundary and an outer boundary, respectively, of the handle-base-engaging surface of the shaft base;
• (c) wherein the peripheral dimension of said handle base and the peripheral dimension of said handle base support are each at least twice the peripheral dimension of the main shaft portion and at least twice the peripheral dimension of the handgrip-engaging portion;
• and
• (d) said handle base and said shaft base being biased together by a tension force into a mating, coaxially aligned position when any bending forces applied to the pole are insufficient to overcome the tension force, the handle being pivotable to an articulated position relative to the shaft upon the application of a predetermined bending force on the pole sufficient to overcome the tension force;
• whereby, during handle articulation, a lower outer periphery of the handle base travels across and engages the handle-base-engaging surface and alignment post of the shaft base such that, after an initial range of handle articulation, the bending force necessary to continue articulation or to maintain the handle in a desired articulated position relative to the shaft is less than the bending force necessary to articulate the handle through the initial range of handle articulation.

An athletic pole adapted for minimizing injuries to the hand and wrist of the user in the event of an accident, said athletic pole comprising:

• (a) a handle including a handgrip-engaging portion and a radially enlarged handle base on said handgrip-engaging portion;
• (b) a shaft extending from the handle and including a main shaft portion and a radially enlarged shaft base on said main shaft portion, said shaft base comprising a collar for receiving the main shaft portion and an enlarged handle base support formed with said collar and defining a handle-base-engaging surface correspondingly sized to the handle base for permitting mating engagement of the handle-base-engaging surface and the handle base;
• (c) wherein the peripheral dimension of said handle base and the peripheral dimension of said handle base support are each at least twice the peripheral dimension of the main shaft portion and at least twice the peripheral dimension of the handgrip-engaging portion;
• (d) attachment means for attaching the handle to the shaft;
• and
• (e) biasing means exerting sufficient tension on said attachment means for biasing said attachment means to maintain the handle base and the shaft base in a mating, coaxially aligned position when any bending forces applied to the pole are insufficient to overcome the tension of the biasing means on the attachment means, the periphery of the handle base and the periphery of the shaft base collectively forming a fulcrum point thereon for permitting controlled, tensioned articulation of the handle relative to the shaft resulting from an application of a predetermined bending force on the pole sufficient to overcome the tension of the biasing means on the attachment means for pivoting the handle to an articulated position relative to the shaft;
• whereby, during handle articulation, a lower outer periphery of the handle base travels across and engages the handle-base-engaging surface of the shaft base such that, after an initial range of handle articulation, the bending force necessary to continue articulation or to maintain the handle in a desired articulated position relative to the shaft is less than the bending force necessary to articulate the handle through the initial range of handle articulation.

An athletic pole adapted for minimizing injuries to the hand and wrist of the user in the event of an accident, said athletic pole comprising:

• (a) a handle including a handgrip-engaging portion and a radially enlarged handle base on said handgrip-engaging portion;
• (b) a shaft extending from the handle and including a main shaft portion and a radially enlarged shaft base on said main shaft portion, said shaft base comprising a collar for receiving the main shaft portion and an enlarged handle base support formed with said collar and defining a handle-base-engaging surface correspondingly sized to the handle base for permitting mating engagement of the handle-base-engaging surface and the handle base, said shaft base further comprising an annular raised alignment post and an annular rim extending around the periphery of the shaft base, said alignment post and said rim limiting the movement of the handle base across the shaft base during handle articulation by forming an inner boundary and an outer boundary, respectively, of the handle-base-engaging surface of the shaft base, and wherein said rim also assists the handle in resuming a coaxially aligned position relative to the shaft upon release of the handle;
• (c) wherein the peripheral dimension of said handle base and the peripheral dimension of said handle base support are each at least twice the peripheral dimension of the main shaft portion and at least twice the peripheral dimension of the handgrip-engaging portion;
• (d) a cable extending through a centrally located opening of the alignment post for attaching the handle to the shaft;
• and
• (c) a spring for exerting sufficient tension on said cable for biasing said cable to maintain the handle base and the shaft base in a mating, coaxially aligned position when any bending forces applied to the pole are insufficient to overcome the tension of the spring on the cable, the periphery of the handle base and the periphery of the shaft base collectively forming a fulcrum point thereon for permitting controlled, tensioned articulation of the handle relative to the shaft resulting from an application of a predetermined bending force on the pole sufficient to overcome the tension of the spring on the cable for pivoting the handle to an articulated position relative to the shaft;
• whereby, during handle articulation, a lower outer periphery of the handle base travels across and engages the handle-base-engaging surface and alignment post of the shaft base such that, after an initial range of handle articulation, the bending force necessary to continue articulation or to maintain the handle in a desired articulated position relative to the shaft is less than the bending force necessary to articulate the handle through the initial range of handle articulation.