GOLF CLUB WITH PLURAL ALTERNATIVE IMPACT SURFACES

Abstract

A golf club having a shaft and an elongated head projecting at a lie angle relative to the shaft, the head having the shape of a regular polygon in a cross section at right angles to the central axis of the head, with each face being formed of a material that provides a different ball rebound factor, the head section being rotatable about the central axis so that any one of the faces may be presented for use with the club.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, advantages and applications of the present invention will be made apparent by the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention. The description makes reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golfer using a first preferred embodiment of a club formed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective view of the head of the club of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded, perspective view of the components that form the golf club head of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the rotatable blade section of the club with the face inserts separated from the blade section;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an insert for one of the faces of the blade section employing a series of serrations to improve the grip of the face on an impacted ball;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the golf club head of FIGS. 1 and 2 taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a club head formed in accordance with my invention employing springs between the blade section and both the heel and toe sections;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of the club of my invention taking the form of a mallet structure;

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the components of a mallet section and a tool for loosening a bolt to allow rotation of the blade section to alter the impact face used;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of my invention wherein the rotational position of the blade is altered to present alternative club faces by changing the position of engagement between the shaft or shank and the blade section;

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of still another embodiment of my invention incorporating a novel weighting system.

Claims

1. A golf club having an elongated shaft and a head having a central axis adapted to be fixed to the shaft so that the central axis extends at an angle to said shaft, the head comprising an adjustable section which is a regular polygon in a plane normal to the central axis, the adjustable section being selectively positionable at any one of a plurality of orientations relative to the shaft, the orientations constituting rotational positions of the adjustable section about the central axis so that in each position at least one of said planar faces is disposed in a similar ball-impacting position relative to the shaft, each planar face having a different rebound factor when impacting a ball.

2. The golf club of claim 1 wherein the angle formed between the central axis of the head and the shaft constitutes a near right angle.

3. A golf putter having an elongated shaft and a head connected to one end of the shaft with a central axis extending at an angle to the shaft, said head comprising: a section which is polygonal in cross section in a plane normal to the central axis of the head to form a plurality of substantially planar ball-impacting faces each parallel to the central axis, each face being formed of a material providing a different rebound factor when impacting with a golf ball, relative to the other faces, the section being positional in any one of a plurality of rotational orientations relative to the shaft, and each orientation providing at least one face substantially parallel to a plane passing through the shaft and the central axis of the neck to present a ball-impacting face having a rebound factor dependent on the chosen rotational orientation.

4. A golf putter head comprising: an elongated neck adapted to receive a shaft;a head connected to the neck having a central axis projecting at an angle relative to the shaft;the head having an adjustable section, polygonal in cross section in a plane normal to the central axis, forming a plurality of substantially parallel faces, the adjustable section being selectively positionable at any one of a plurality of orientations constituting rotational positions of the sections about the central axis so that in each position at least one of the planar faces is disposed substantially parallel to a plane through the length of the shaft and the central axis to form a ball-impacting surface, each planar face having a different rebound factor when impacting a ball.

5. The golf putter of claim 4 wherein the head further comprises a heel section fixed to one end of the length of the shaft and the adjustable section is adapted to be supported on the heel section.

6. The golf putter head of claim 4 wherein at least certain of the planar faces of the adjustable section of the head comprise an insert disposed in a recess on the adjustable section, the insert being formed of a different material than the material forming the recess.

7. A golf putter comprising: an elongated shaft;a heel section fixed to one end of the shaft; anda blade portion, elongated about a central axis, adapted to be connected to the heel so the central axis extends at an angle to the shaft, the blade portion being a regular polygon with a plurality of substantially parallel faces, each parallel to the central axis, each face providing a different impact factor with respect to a golf ball, and a separable connector adapted to allow a first end of the blade to be connected to the heel section at one of a plurality of rotational positions of the blade relative to the central axis, so as to position any one of the faces in a ball-impacting position.

8. The golf putter of claim 7 wherein the separable fastener comprises complementary sections on the blade and the heel that may be positioned in abutment to one another to fix the blade in a chosen rotational position relative to the heel or may be separated from one another to allow rotation of the blade relative to the heel.

9. The golf putter of claim 8 wherein the separable fastener further comprises a rotational fastener element adapted to extend between the blade and the heel and draw the blade and the heel into abutment in one rotational position and allow separation of the blade and the heel in another rotational position so that the blade may be rotated about its central axis to change the blade's rotational position relative to the heel and present a different face of the blade in ball-impacting position.

10. The golf putter of claim 9 wherein the blade comprises a hole formed through the length of the blade along its central axis and the rotational fastener element extends through the hole.

11. The golf putter of claim 10 wherein the rotational fastener element comprises a bolt having a slotted head in one end and a male angle engagement section formed at the other end.

12. The golf putter of claim 11 further comprising a compression spring supported on the bolt, adjacent the bolt head, so that when the bolt is rotated so as to bring the blade and the heel into abutment, the spring is compressed.

13. The golf putter of claim 11 wherein the heel has a hole formed with a female angle engagement section adapted to receive the male angled engagement section formed at one end of the bolt.

14. The golf putter of claim 7 further comprising an elongated weighting element having a central hole adapted to be inserted into the hole formed through the central axis of the blade so the rotational fastener element may be passed through the central hole of the weighting element, whereby weighting elements of different weights may be selectably disposed within the blade.

15. The golf putter of claim 7 further comprising a toe portion symmetrical about a central axis, fixed to the second end of the blade, so that central axes of the blade and the toe portion coincide, and the toe portion rotates with the blade.

16. The golf putter of claim 7 further comprising a toe portion, adapted to be rotationally attached to the second end of the blade so that the orientation of the toe portion remains constant with the orientation of the heel section after rotation of the blade portion.

17. The golf putter of claim 7 further comprising a compression spring supported on the bolt, adjacent the bolt head, so that when the bolt is rotated so as to bring the blade and heel into abutment, the spring is compressed.

18. A golf putter club comprising: an elongated shaft, a grip formed on one end of the shaft, a head formed at the other end of the shaft having a central axis projecting at a lie angle relative to the shaft, the head having a section with a regular polygonal cross section in a plane normal to the central axis, forming a plurality of substantially parallel faces, the section being selectively positionable at any one of a plurality of orientations constituting rotational positions of the section about the central axis so that in each position at least one of said planar faces is disposed in ball-impacting position, each planar face having a different rebound factor when impacting a ball.

19. A golf club head having a striking face and a uniform bore extending from one surface of the head, parallel to the striking face, and at least one elongated weighting element having an outer configuration, along cross sections through its length, complementary to the inner diameter of the bore, adapted to be inserted into the bore to weight the club head.

20. The golf club head of claim 19, further comprising a central hole through the length of the weighting element and an elongated fastener having a head at one end, adapted to pass through the central hole in the weighting element, and to fasten to the club head, to retain the weighting element within the club head.