Hosel construction and method of making the same

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6273828
  • Patent Number
    6,273,828
  • Date Filed
    Friday, May 22, 1998
    26 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 14, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
The hosel construction includes a plug member extending downwardly for engaging a club head having a club face. A neck member, extending angularly upwardly from the plug member, engages a shaft to complete a golf club. The neck member extends in a generally transverse dimension to determine a lie angle between the shaft and the club head. The neck member also extends in a generally longitudinal dimension to determine a longitudinal angle, such as a face angle for the club face.
Description




TECHNICAL FIELD




The present invention relates in general to an improved golf club hosel construction and method of a method of making it. The invention more particularly relates to a hosel construction which can be used to fit golf clubs to individual golfers, and which can be made according to a novel method.




BACKGROUND ART




In order to accommodate the largest possible percentage of the population of golfers, off-the-shelf golf clubs have been manufactured to have physical properties for use by a typical golfer having typical golfing characteristics. The golfing characteristics affected the physical properties of the golf clubs, e.g., shaft length, lie angle, and face angle, and included the height of the golfer, the position of the golfer when addressing a golf ball, the swing path of the golf club, the swing height of the club head, etc. Using the typical golfing characteristics to produce off-the-shelf golf clubs having standard physical properties reduced the manufacturing costs of the clubs and enabled the golf club manufacturers to sell the golf clubs at a relatively low cost.




While such an approach provided the majority of golfers with access to relatively inexpensive golf clubs, the off-the-shelf golf clubs were not ideally suited for all golfers. In this regard, a golfer whose golfing characteristics deviated from the typical golfing characteristics was not able to utilize the off-the-shelf golf clubs to perform at the highest level possible. To achieve peak performance levels, the golfer was required to adjust his or her golfing characteristics to match the typical golfing characteristics embodied in the off-the-shelf golf clubs.




The adjusting of golfing characteristics required instruction and substantial time devoted to the adjustment. In an effort to avoid the time and expense involved in the adjustment of golfing characteristics, golfers turned to customized golf clubs designed specifically for the golfing characteristics of the individual golfer. With the customized golf clubs the golfer was able to utilize his or her own individual golfing characteristics to obtain peak performance without adjusting the individual golfing characteristics.




Generally, the customized golf clubs utilized a club head having an upwardly extending hosel portion for connecting the club head to a shaft. Each individual golfer required a particular relationship between the club head and the hosel portion. Thus, to accommodate as many golfers as possible, an assembler of custom fitted golf clubs had to either maintain a large inventory of all possible combinations of club head/hosel portion relationships, or manufacture each one of the required club heads having the appropriate club head/hosel portion relationship as required.




Although the customized golf clubs enabled all golfers to obtain golf clubs suited for the golfer's individual golfing characteristics, such customized golf clubs were relatively expensive. Furthermore, the assembly of such customized golf clubs required a substantial amount of time to complete.




Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved hosel construction for assembling customized golf clubs, and which can be made according to a novel method. Such a hosel construction should enable customized golf clubs to be produced with greater precision in a relatively inexpensive manner, and should enable the customized golf clubs to be assembled quickly and easily.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Therefore, the principal object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved hosel construction and a method of making it, wherein the hosel construction facilitates the production of customized or fitted golf clubs in a relatively quick and inexpensive manner, and with greater precision.




Briefly, the above and further objects of the present invention are realized by providing a new and improved hosel construction, which can be made according to a novel method of the present invention.




The hosel construction includes a plug member extending downwardly for engaging a club head having a club face. A neck member, extending angularly upwardly from the plug member, engages a shaft to complete a golf club. The neck member extends in a generally transverse dimension to determine a lie angle between the shaft and the club head. The neck member also extends in a generally longitudinal dimension to determine a face angle for the club face.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS




The above mentioned and other objects and features of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become apparent, and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of the embodiment of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:





FIG. 1

is an enlarged perspective view of a hosel construction, which is constructed in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a partially cut-away front elevational view of a fitted golf club utilizing the hosel construction of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a left side elevational view of the golf club of

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 4

is a cut-away plan view of the golf club of

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 5

is an enlarged perspective view of another hosel construction, which is also constructed in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 6

is a partially cut-away front elevational view of a fitted golf club utilizing the hosel construction of

FIG. 5

;





FIG. 7

is a left side elevational view of the golf club of

FIG. 6

;





FIG. 8

is a cut-away plan view of the golf club of

FIG. 6

;





FIG. 9

is an enlarged sectional elevational view of another hosel construction, which is also constructed in accordance with the present invention; and





FIGS. 10A-B

are cross sectional views of the hosel construction of

FIG. 9

, taken substantially along line


10


A-B thereof.











BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION




Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to

FIGS. 1-4

thereof, there is shown a hosel construction


10


, which is constructed in accordance with the present invention. The hosel construction


10


facilitates the construction of a customized or fitted golf club for an individual golfer using a standard golf club shaft


12


and a standard golf club head


14


.




As shown in

FIGS. 1-4

, the club head


14


is indicative of a wood type of golf club. The club head


14


includes a generally vertical upwardly directed opening at a heel portion


18


of the club head


14


, and club face


16


having an associated face angle.




The hosel construction


10


cooperates with the shaft


12


and the club head


14


to angularly position the shaft


12


relative to the club head


14


to a desired lie angle. The hosel construction


10


also angularly positions the club face


16


to a desired face angle. The desired lie angle and desired face angle determine the physical properties of the fitted golf club to accommodate the golfing characteristics of the individual golfer.




As used herein, all directions are described relative to the club head


14


(FIG.


4


), wherein the club face


16


is at the front of the club head


14


and the hosel construction is at the left side of the club head


14


. Thus, a longitudinal dimension is defined through the front and back of the club head


14


and a transverse dimension is defined relative to the longitudinal dimension.




The hosel construction


10


includes a generally downwardly extending club head engaging portion, or plug member


41


, adapted to be received in the opening in the heel portion


18


. The plug member


41


includes a plurality of sides, such as front side


43


and left side


45


. The opening in the heel portion


18


has a corresponding number of sides to enable the plug member


41


to be received in the opening, wherein the engagement of the sides


43


and


45


with corresponding sides in the opening substantially limits the rotation of the hosel construction


10


within the opening in the heel portion


18


. It will be understood by one skilled in the art that the plug member


41


could also be circular or ovate with only one side.




The hosel construction


10


further includes a shaft engaging member, or neck member


30


, extending generally angularly upwardly from the plug member


41


. The neck member


30


is generally cylindrical and defines an opening


32


for receiving the shaft


12


therein. The neck member


30


further includes a pair of ornamental grooves


34


and


36


circumscribing the neck member


30


. In order to facilitate obtaining the desired lie angle and the desired face angle for the particular golfer, the neck member


30


extends in the generally transverse dimension, and also extends in the generally longitudinal dimension, relative to the plug member


41






As best seen in

FIG. 2

, the neck member


30


extends upwardly and angularly outwardly in the transverse dimension away from the plug member


41


to define the desired lie angle between the shaft


12


and the club head


14


. The neck member


30


(

FIG. 3

) also extends upwardly and rearwardly from the plug member


41


in the longitudinal dimension to position the club face


16


at the desired face angle. In this regard, to maintain the shaft


12


in a substantially upright position, the club head


14


is reoriented counter-clockwise in the longitudinal dimension to position the club face


16


at the desired face angle. As the standard face angle is defined when the club head


14


is substantially parallel to a ground surface


2


, the rearward extension of the neck member


30


in the longitudinal dimension represents the degrees of rotation of the club face


16


necessary to position the club face


16


at the desired face angle from the standard face angle. The counter-clockwise reorientation of the club head


14


results in the face angle being increased toward a hook position from the standard face angle. The face angle is the angle between the face and the shaft of the club.




Similarly, the outward extension of the neck member


30


in the transverse dimension reorients the club head


14


about its heel


18


in the transverse dimension to position the neck member


30


at the desired lie angle. The degrees of reorientation in the transverse dimension are preferably determined relative to a standard lie angle. A progressive scale is also contemplated. As shown in

FIG. 2

, the neck member


30


is reoriented to increase the lie angle from the standard lie angle.




The hosel construction


10


further includes a boss


38


disposed about an upper portion of the plug member


41


to engage a reveal encircling the opening at the heel


18


of the club head


14


when the plug member


41


is received within the opening in the heel portion


18


. The plug member


41


further includes a threaded opening


47


for receiving a screw


26


to secure the hosel construction


10


to the club head


14


, wherein the screw


26


extends from a counter bore


24


through a bore and into the threaded opening


47


. While in the preferred embodiment the threaded screw


26


is utilized, other securing devices and methods such as adhesives and rivets are also contemplated.




Preferably, the hosel construction


10


is fabricated or machined in one piece from a metallic material. However, other materials such as thermoplastics, carbon-graphite, are also contemplated within the scope of the invention.




Referring now to

FIGS. 5-8

, there is shown another hosel construction


50


which is also constructed in accordance with the present invention. The hosel construction


50


is adapted to be received within an opening in a club head


62


for connecting the club head


62


to a shaft


60


to form a fitted golf club. The club head


62


is substantially similar to the club head


14


(FIGS.


2


-


4


), and includes a generally vertical upwardly extending opening for receiving the hosel construction


50


and a club face


64


disposed at a face angle.




The hosel construction


50


is substantially similar to the hosel construction


10


(

FIGS. 1-4

) and includes a downwardly extending plug member


56


, a boss member


54


disposed about an upper portion of the plug member


56


, and a neck member


52


extending generally angularly upwardly from the plug member


56


. The neck member


52


extends generally in the transverse dimension relative to the plug member


56


to orient the shaft


60


at a desired lie angle relative to the club head


62


. The neck member


52


further extends generally in the longitudinal dimension relative to the plug member


56


to orient the club face


64


at a desired face angle.




Although the neck member


52


extends outwardly in the longitudinal dimension, a comparison of

FIGS. 2 and 6

shows the neck member


52


(

FIG. 6

) does not extend outwardly in the transverse dimension to the extent that the neck member


30


(

FIG. 2

) does. As a result, the desired lie angle produced by the hosel construction


50


is less than the desired lie angle produced by the hosel construction


10


. As shown in

FIG. 6

, the neck member


52


is reoriented inwardly from the standard lie angle position. Thus, the lie angle is decreased from the standard lie angle to obtain the desired lie angle.




In addition, the neck member


52


extends generally forwardly in the longitudinal dimension to increase the face angle relative to the standard face angle. Thus, by reorienting the club head


62


clockwise in the longitudinal dimension while maintaining the shaft


60


in a substantially upright position, the face angle is decreased from the standard face angle to obtain the desired face angle.




The hosel construction


50


is secured to the club head


62


by a screw


58


or other securing devices or methods.




The hosel constructions


10


(

FIGS. 1-4

) and


50


(

FIGS. 5-8

) illustrate only two possible configurations. Further configurations can be obtained by combining either positive or negative deviations of the lie angle and the face angle from the standard lie angle and standard face angle. In addition, the amount of deviation, either positive or negative, can be adjusted. Of course, another configuration could be obtained with no deviation, i.e., the desired face angle and desired lie angle correspond to the standard face angle and standard lie angle, respectively. In this way, any possible number of desired lie angles or desired face angles can be achieved for an individual golfer using a standard club head, such as club heads


14


and


62


, and standard shafts, such as shafts


12


and


60


.




Although a right-handed wood type of golf club is shown in

FIGS. 1-8

, it will be understood by one skilled in the art that other types of golf clubs, such as irons and putters, can also be customized or fitted using the disclosed hosel construction. In addition, left-handed fitted golf clubs can be assembled with the hosel construction of the present invention.




In order to assemble a custom or fitted golf club for a particular golfer, a desired lie angle and a desired face angle must be determined for the golfer. The desired lie angle and the desired face angle for the golfer can be determined according to the method and apparatus for fitting golf clubs to golfers disclosed in co-pending and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/799,072, filed Feb. 11, 1997, which application is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.




Utilizing the known standard characteristics of the standard golf club head and the standard shaft, such as the standard face angle and standard lie angle, an appropriate hosel construction, such as hosel constructions


10


and


50


, can be selected to position the club head to the desired lie angle and the desired face angle. In this regard, to obtain the desired lie angle, it may be necessary to select a hosel construction that will increase or decrease the lie angle relative to the standard lie angle to obtain the desired lie angle. Similarly, it may be necessary to select a hosel construction that will increase or decrease the face angle relative to the standard face angle to obtain the desired face angle. As illustrated by hosel constructions


10


and


50


, a single hosel construction can accomplish both adjustments of the lie and face angle.




In order to accommodate a wide variety of golfing characteristics for individual golfers using standard club heads and shafts, a plurality of hosel constructions having different combinations for obtaining desired lie angles and desired face angles can be utilized. The degrees of deviation from standard lie and face angles for such hosel constructions are set forth below in Table 1. Only the combinations using deviations of 1°, 0° and −1° are shown. However, additional increments, positive and negative, integer and non-integer, are also contemplated.














TABLE 1









Hosel




Lie Angle Deviation




Face Angle Deviation











1




−1°




−1°






2




−1°




 0°






3




−1°




+1°






4




 0°




−1°






5




 0°




 0°






6




 0°




+1°






7




+1°




−1°






8




+1°




 0°






9




+1°




 1°














The following example illustrates the selection of the appropriate hosel construction for a fitted golf club. The golf club to be fitted is a six iron having a standard lie angle of 55° and a standard face angle of 0°. The desired lie angle and desired face angle are determined to be 56° and −10° for a hooked face, respectively, for the individual golfer. Using Table 1, it is determined that the use of hosel construction number


7


will increase the lie angle to the desired lie angle from the standard lie angle. Hosel construction number


7


will also decrease the face angle from the standard face angle to the desired face angle.




After selection of the appropriate hosel construction, the selected hosel construction is coupled between the standard club head and the shaft to produce the customized or fitted golf club for the golfer. Further adjustments, such as lengthening or shortening the shaft length may also be required. In this way, the same golf club and shaft can be utilized to assemble, quickly and easily, a fitted club for any one golfer out of the entire population of golfers.




Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS.


9


and


10


A-B, there is shown another hosel construction


110


for coupling a standard shaft


112


to a standard club head


114


. The hosel construction


110


is similar to the hosel constructions


10


and


50


(

FIGS. 1-8

) and facilitates the assembly of a fitted golf club having a desired lie angle and a desired face angle. The hosel construction


110


is received within an opening in a heel portion


116


of the club head


114


, and is secured therein by a securing screw (not shown) or other securing devices or methods.




The hosel construction


110


includes a shaft engaging or neck member


120


and a head engaging or plug member


122


having an offset opening to receive the neck member


120


therein. A longitudinal axis of the opening in the plug member


122


intersects a longitudinal axis of the plug member


122


, wherein the opening is slanted relative to the plug member


122


.




As best seen in

FIGS. 10A-B

, the plug member


122


is substantially circular. As shown in solid lines in

FIG. 9

, the slanted opening in the plug member


122


causes the neck member


120


to extend generally inwardly in a transverse dimension. As a result, the neck member


120


and the shaft


112


are offset inwardly from the longitudinal axis of the plug member


122


(FIG.


10


A). Similarly, when plug member


122


is rotated 180° to the position shown in dashed lines in

FIG. 9

, the opening in the plug member


122


urges the neck member


120


outwardly in the transverse dimension, wherein the neck member


120


and shaft


112


are offset outwardly from the longitudinal axis of the plug member


122


outwardly (FIG.


10


B).




While particular embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, it is to be understood that various different modifications are possible and are contemplated within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, the present invention applies to both woods and irons, and it will become apparent to those skilled in the art, that the terms “loft angle” apply more appropriately to an iron. Thus, the terms “longitudinal angle” as used in the claims are intended to apply to both woods and irons. There is no intention, therefore, of limitations to the exact abstract or disclosure herein presented.



Claims
  • 1. A hosel construction for connecting a shaft to a club head having a given generally upwardly directed pre-formed opening and a club face, comprising:a plug member adapted to be received in the given pre-formed opening, said plug member having a plurality of sides, the pre-formed opening being complementary shaped for substantially limiting the rotation of said plug member within the pre-formed opening; a neck member extending generally angularly relative to said plug member for engaging the shaft wherein the plug member is connected to the neck member to enable the shaft and the club member to be connected fixedly together at a predetermined angular relationship in a manner to resist any change in said angular relationship; said neck member and said plug member securing the shaft relative to the club head to cause the shaft to be extending in a generally transverse dimension to position the shaft at a desired lie angle relative to the given pre-formed opening in the club head; and said neck member and said plug member securing the shaft relative to the club head to cause the shaft to be extending in a generally longitudinal dimension to position the club face at a desired longitudinal angle relative to the given pre-formed opening in the club head.
  • 2. A hosel construction according to claim 1, wherein said plug member is connected integrally to said neck member.
  • 3. A hosel construction according to claim 2, wherein said neck member extends generally rearwardly in said longitudinal dimension relative to said plug member.
  • 4. A hosel construction according to claim 2, wherein said neck member extends generally forwardly in said longitudinal dimension relative to said plug member.
  • 5. A hosel construction according to claim 2, wherein said neck member extends generally outwardly in said transverse dimension relative to said plug member.
  • 6. A hosel construction according to claim 2, wherein said neck member extends generally inwardly in said transverse dimension relative to said plug member.
  • 7. A hosel construction according to claim 1, further including means for securing said plug member within the given pre-formed opening.
  • 8. A hosel construction according to claim 1, further including means for aligning said plug member in the given pre-formed opening.
  • 9. The hosel of claim 1 wherein said plug and neck members are composed of a material selected from one of the group consisting of thermoplastic, carbon-graphite, and metal.
  • 10. A method of making a golf club, comprising:providing a golf club head and a shaft, the golf club head having a pre-formed opening; selecting discreet combinations of lie angle and longitudinal angle that most nearly correspond to particular golfing characteristics of golfers; constructing hosels for implementing said selected discreet combinations of lie angle and longitudinal angle, the hosels each having a neck portion and a plug portion, the plug portion constructed to be received into the pre-formed opening in the golf club head, and the neck portion and the plug portion formed to connect fixedly the golf club head and the shaft at a fixed angular relationship corresponding its selected discreet combination; and utilizing one of said hosels to interconnect the club head via its pre-formed opening and the shaft to form the golf club.
Parent Case Info

This Application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/923,546 filed Sep. 4, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,155.

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