This invention relates to an adjustable golf club, and more particularly to an adjustable putter with an elongated head with a central axis extending at a lie angle relative to the shaft and formed with a plurality of faces each having a different rebound factor. The head is rotatable about its central axis to present one of these faces for ball-impacting use.
It has long been recognized that the hardness and coefficient of restitution of the impact face of a golf club will affect the force imparted to the ball when a club is swung with a given speed. Materials which will provide an appropriate range of forces often differ from the material with which the golf head is constructed, so it has been proposed to provide golf clubs with inserts of particular materials chosen for their hardness and rebound coefficients (which will hereinafter be collectively referred to as “impact factors”). U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,474 discloses a golf club with a polyurethane insert on the striking face that provides an advantageous impact factor to balls hit with the club.
It has also been proposed to male these inserts detachable so that the impact face of a club may be altered to provide an insert which is chosen based on the condition of the course. For example, when the greens have short grass and are relatively hard, i.e. “fast”, an insert with a relatively low impact factor is chosen, but when the grass is longer, or damp, so that the green is “slow”, an insert with a high impact factor is chosen. This allows a golfer to use substantially the same stroke with fast and slow greens and to impart forces on the golf ball which are consistent with these conditions. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,871.
Rather than requiring an insert to be changed in order to alter the force induced on a ball using a relatively consistent stroke, it has been proposed to provide a multiple-faced head for a golf putter in which the different faces have different ball-impacting characteristics. U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,708 discloses such an adjustable putter. The head is polygonal in shape and is affixed to the club shaft so that all of the faces lie in the vertical plane when the club is in use. The head has a polygonal socket on its upper surface which mates with a male polygonal member disposed at one end of the hosel so that the hosel may be inserted into the head into a position which supports one of the faces in a ball-impacting position. The head is unusual in shape, in no way resembling a conventional golf putter, and the weighting created by this unusual shape is unconventional and may well be confusing to the golfer.
The present invention is accordingly directed toward a golf club and more particularly a putter, which has a head with a plurality of faces, each having a different impact factor when hitting a golf ball, which may be positionally adjusted to place one of the faces into a golf ball hitting position. More particularly, it is directed toward such a club in which the head is of a conventional shape with a central axis that is disposed at a chosen lie angle relative to the club shaft so it may be positionally adjusted in a rotational manner about the central axis to place one of the faces in ball-impacting position.
A preferred embodiment of the invention which will subsequently be disclosed in detail employs a head having a section which is formed as a regular polygon, symmetrical about the central axis of the head. The polygonal section may be rotated about its central axis so as to dispose one of the planar faces, having a chosen impact factor, in ball-impacting position.
The preferred embodiment of the invention employs a heel fixed to the club neck and a regularly polygonal blade section which extends from the heel at the chosen lie angle. The heel and the blade are formed with complementary sections 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 with respect to the heel to select a particular ball-impacting face.
In one preferred embodiment a bolt extends through a longitudinal hole in the blade and its threaded end fastens in a threaded hole in the section of the heel that abuts the end of the blade. The threaded fastener may be rotated to lock the two into a chosen position or may be loosened to separate the two and allow rotation to another desired position, placing another face in ball-impacting position.
In one embodiment which will be subsequently disclosed, a generally tubular weighting element of a selected weight may be supported in the hole of the head around the threaded fastener to adjust the weight of the head.
Alternatively, the club may incorporate a toe portion which is symmetrical in shape and rotates with the rotationally adjustable blade section, or is nonsymmetrical and remains in a constant position relative to the heel independent of the rotational position of the blade. The putter may also incorporate a mallet-like section which extends from the heel, toe and blade, away from the ball-impacting face.
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:
Referring to the drawings,
The angle between the axis of the shaft 26 and the central axis 32 of the head is termed the lie of the club. On a putter it may vary between approximately 90 degrees and 50 degrees. The central axis of the blade 30 extends at the lie angle relative to the shaft 26.
The blade section 30 is illustrated as rectangular in cross section about a plane normal to its central axis. The blade section 30 is preferably a regular polygon, but it could employ a number of faces other than four, such as three, five, six, etc. The faces are arrayed at equal angles about the central axis. Each of the faces of the blade 30 is designed to provide a different impact factor upon contact with a golf ball. The faces may differ in hardness, rebound factor or the like. Different hardness and rebound factors can be formed by making the faces of different materials and the blade 30 is illustrated as having one face formed of the same as the base material and other faces formed with conventional inserts 34 which fit within recesses 38 formed in the center of the face. Thus, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The blade 30 has a central circular hole 44 extending entirely through the body about the central axis. A cylindrical tubular weight 46, having an outer diameter complementary to the inner diameter of the hole 44, is adapted to be inserted into the hole and to receive, within its inner diameter, extending tubular sections 48 and 50 which project from the central axis of the mating surfaces of the heel 28 and toe 36 respectively. A smaller diameter end of the section 48 projects into a central hole 49 in the heel 28 and a similar formation on the section 50 projects into a hole 51 in the toe 36. Thus the tubular weight 46 is disposed within a blade section 30 and the sections 48 and 50 extend into the exposed ends of the tube 46 and when they are brought into abutment, the sections 42 on the toe and heel lock with the sections 40 on the two ends of the blade 30 to prevent rotation of the blade.
A bolt 60 having a head 62 at one end and a thread 64 at the other end is adapted to pass through a central hole 66 formed through the heel 28, through the central hole in the weight 46 nestled within the blade 30 and to thread into a complementary female thread in a central aperture in the toe 36. By rotating the fastener 62 through an appropriate groove formed in its head, the toe and heel sections may be brought into abutment with the blade 30 and lock the blade in a chosen rotational position. By rotating the bolt 60 in the opposite direction, the abutting sections 40 and 42 may be separated allowing the blade 30 to be rotated about its central axis, relative to the heel 28 to present a different face in ball-impacting position.
A compression spring 70 is supported over the fastener 60 so as to be compressed between the inner side of the head 62 and an abutting shoulder section of the heel 28 when the fastener 62 is in a locked position. This maintains the tension on the bolt and prevents accidental loosening or vibration during swing of the club, and maintaining the parts of the head biased toward another during rotation of the blade 30.
A conventional screwdriver or Allen wrench may be used to tighten and loosen the fastener 62.
A club formed in accordance with
Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in
The weight 122 has a central hole 124, which allows a bolt 126 to pass through a central hole 128 in the heel 112, communicating with the recess 118, and thread into a recess 130 in the head 110. The bolt may be loosened to allow rotation of the head 112 about its central axis to present a putting face with a chosen impact factor and then tightened to secure the head relative to the heel.
This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/758,350 filed Jan. 12, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference.
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