Acceleration responsive device

• US 5,520,049 A
• Filed: 08/01/1994
• Issued: 05/28/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: True Temper Sports, Inc. (New True Temper Holdings Corp., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Emhart Inc.
• Inventors: Butler, Joseph H. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Williams, Hezron E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Oda, Christine K.
• Application Number:
  US08/290,668
• Time in Patent Office: 666 Days
• Field of Search: 73/492, 273/186.1, 273/186.2, 273/186.3, 273/32 R, 273/35 R, 273/26 B, 273/29 A, 273/67 R, 273/72 R, 273/73 R
• US Class Current: 73/492
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 15/04 for indicating maximum value

Abstract

An acceleration responsive device 30 includes a support 34 which supports a rod 46 between two spaced portions of the support. A weighted disc 48 is mounted for movement on the rod and is held by a spring 128 at one end of the rod 46. An indicator 50 is also mounted for movement on the rod 46 adjacent disc 48. A tube 62 is coupled to support 34 to facilitate swinging movement of the device 30 where, due to the acceleration thereof, disc 48 is moved along rod 46 and pushes indicator 50 along the rod. When the swinging movement ceases, disc 48 is returned to the one end of rod 46 and indicator 50 remains at the position to which it was moved. A scale reading of a decal 89 adjacent the moved indicator 50 provides a indication of the acceleration attained during the swinging of device 30. This reading can be applied to a graph to assist the user of device 30 in the selection of golf clubs having a shaft stiffness most appropriate for the user.

Claims

1. An acceleration responsive device, which comprises:

a support including a body having a slot formed therein and a rod mounted in and extending from a first portion of the slot to a second portion of the slot spaced from the first end thereof, a track formed by the slot and rod on the support and extending between at least the first portion to the second portion of the slot, a first member located on the track in a normal position at a prescribed location of the track adjacent the first portion of the slot and having a first side which faces toward the second portion of the slot and a second side which faces away from the second portion of the slot, a second member located on the track in a normal position adjacent the first member and having a face which interfaces with the second side of the first member, each of the first and second members being located on the track for movement relative thereto, a biasing element attached to the second member for allowing the second member to move along the track and to biasingly return to the normal position thereof, whereby, upon movement of the support in a prescribed manner, and due to the acceleration applied thereto, the second member is caused to move along the track toward the second portion of the slot against the biasing action of the biasing element to push the first member toward the second portion of the slot where, after reaching the maximum acceleration during the movement, the second member returns under the action of the biasing element to the normal position of the second member and the first member remains at its moved position on the track as an indication of the acceleration of the support during the movement thereof.

2. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the support includes a body of a prescribed configuration, a housing section and a cover for attachment to the housing section.

3. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the first member is in a prescribed shape with a pair of slots extending outwardly to and through a periphery of the first member.

4. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the biasing element is a spring.

5. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 1, which further comprises at least one weight of a prescribed weight attached to the support.

6. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 1, which further comprises a scale of characters appearing on the support adjacent the track to provide an indication of the location of the second member following accelerating movement of the support.

7. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 1, which further comprises a tube coupled to the support to provide a handle for the device and facilitate swinging movement of the support by a user of the device.

14. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 3, wherein the biasing element is located in the housing section and a cover is located over the housing section to conceal the biasing element.

8. An acceleration responsive device, which comprises:

a support formed with a body, a slot formed in the body and a rod located in the slot between a first portion of the support and a second portion of the support spaced from the first portion thereof, a track formed by the slot and the rod in the support and extending from the first portion of the support to the spaced second portion thereof, an acceleration responsive element located at a first end of the track in a rest position and mounted for movement on the track, a movable element located on the track in a rest position adjacent the acceleration responsive element and between the acceleration responsive element and a second end of the track spaced from the first end thereof, the movable element mounted on the track for movement relative thereto, and a biasing element coupled between the support and the acceleration responsive element to normally urge the acceleration responsive element toward the first end of the track.

9. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 8, wherein the slot is defined by spaced opposed edges of the body extending between the first portion and the second portion of the support.

10. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 9, wherein the acceleration responsive element is formed in a prescribed structure and includes at least a pair of slots formed therein which straddle portions of the body adjacent the edges of the body which define the slot.

11. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 10, wherein the slots of the acceleration responsive element are each formed with a base and one end portion of the base of each of the slots is formed with a bevelled surface.

12. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 8, wherein the biasing element is a spring connected at one end thereof to the support and at the other end thereof to the acceleration responsive element.

13. The acceleration responsive device as set forth in claim 8, wherein the support is formed with a housing section located adjacent the first portion of the support.