Patent Application
20180185709
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to a golf club head, particularly a putter, with a hosel that can be removed and replaced with another hosel having a different style, mass properties, material, and/or bore angle.
The prior art discloses many different types of hosel adjustment features incorporated into golf club heads, and on putters in particular. One example is Billings, U.S. Pat. No. 7,566,276, for Multi-Piece Putter Head Having an Insert. Another example is Lekavich, U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,571, for Dynamically Balanced Modular Putter With a Sliding Hosel. Yet another example is Aguinaldo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,753,221, for Adjustable Golf Club Shaft and Hosel Assembly. There still is a need, however, for a well-disguised or hidden putter hosel adjustment system that allows a golfer to change the appearance or orientation of the hosel axis with respect to the putter head's center of gravity.
One aspect of the present invention is a putter comprising a removable hosel. The putter includes a first, main body portion and a second, heel-side body portion, and at least a portion of the removable hosel is trapped within a cavity of the second body portion when the first and second body portions are engaged with one another. A mechanical fastener is used to reversibly fix the pieces of the putter head together.
Another aspect of the present invention is a putter head comprising a first body portion comprising a striking face, a first top surface, a first bottom surface, a first heel side, a first toe side, and first and second protrusions extending from the heel side, a second body portion comprising a front surface, a second top surface, a second bottom surface, a second heel side, a second toe side, first and second cavities extending into the second heel side, a third cavity extending into the second top surface, and a first through-bore extending from the second toe side into the first cavity, a hosel comprising a shaft receiving portion and an engagement portion, and a threaded fastener, wherein the first cavity is sized to receive at least a portion of the first protrusion, wherein the second cavity is sized to receive at least a portion of the second protrusion, wherein the third cavity is in communication with the second cavity (and extends approximately perpendicular to the second cavity), wherein the first protrusion comprises a threaded bore, wherein the first through-bore aligns with the threaded bore when the first protrusion is engaged with the first cavity, wherein the engagement portion is sized to fit within the third cavity, wherein the engagement portion engages at least a portion of the second protrusion, and wherein the threaded fastener reversibly fixes the first body portion to the second body portion to affix the hosel within the third cavity.
In some embodiments, the engagement portion may be selected from the group consisting of a fourth cavity, a hook, and a second through-bore, and preferably is a hook. In other embodiments, the striking face may be flush with the front surface when the first body portion is engaged with the second body portion. In any of the embodiments, the first body portion may comprise a third protrusion extending from the first heel side, and the second body portion may comprise a fifth cavity sized to receive at least a portion of the third protrusion. In a further embodiment, the second protrusion may be disposed proximate the first top surface, and the third protrusion may be disposed proximate the first bottom surface. In other embodiments, the putter head may comprise a seam where the first body portion meets the second body portion, the striking face may comprise at least one vertically oriented scoreline, and the at least one vertically oriented scoreline may be spaced from the seam.
In some embodiments, the engagement portion may comprise a polygonal cross-sectional shape. In a further embodiment, the engagement portion may comprise an octagonal cross-section, and a gap may be maintained between at least one flat side of the octagonal cross section and a wall of the third cavity when the engagement portion is disposed within the third cavity. In yet another, further embodiment, the gap may be no less than 0.0001 inch and no more than 0.0010 inch, and preferably is approximately 0.0005 inch. In any of the embodiments, the engagement portion may have a tapering cross-sectional shape or a cylindrical cross-sectional shape. In other embodiments, each of the first and second protrusions may have a tapering width. In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, the striking face may comprise a plurality of diamond-shaped scorelines and at least one vertically oriented scoreline.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a putter head comprising a body portion comprising a front surface, a top surface, a bottom surface, a heel side, a toe side, a rear portion, a heel-side cavity in communication with an upper opening in the top surface, a threaded bore extending from the cavity into the rear portion, and a front bore extending into the cavity from the front surface, a hosel comprising a shaft receiving portion and an engagement portion; and a fastener comprising a head portion and a threaded portion, wherein the engagement portion is sized to fit within the upper opening, wherein the engagement portion comprises a through-bore, wherein the threaded bore is aligned with the front bore, and wherein the threaded portion extends through the front bore and through the through-bore to engage the threaded bore and secure the engagement portion within the heel-side cavity. In some embodiments, the upper opening may have a polygonal cross-sectional shape along an XY plane perpendicular with the front surface. In a further embodiment, the cross-sectional shape may be octagonal. In other embodiments, each of the front bore and the threaded bore may extend perpendicular to the front surface. In still other embodiments, the head portion of the fastener may comprise a shoulder portion, which may abut the engagement portion.
Having briefly described the present invention, the above and further objects, features and advantages thereof will be recognized by those skilled in the pertinent art from the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The present invention is directed to a golf club head, and particularly a putter head, with a removable hosel. In particular, the putter head has first and second body portions that trap a lower portion of the hosel between them and thereby reversibly immobilize the hosel.
In a first embodiment, shown in
The putter head 10 also has a second body portion 200 comprising a front surface 210, a top surface 220, a bottom surface 225, a heel side 230, a rear portion 240, and a planar toe side 250 extending approximately perpendicular to the front surface 210. The toe side 250 includes a main cavity 270 sized to receive the main protrusion 170 and a plurality of smaller cavities 260, 265, one cavity 260 sized to receive the uppermost protrusion 160, the other sized to receive the lowermost protrusion 165. A through bore 280 with an abutment surface 282 extends through the toe side 250 and communicates with the main cavity 270; when the main protrusion 170 is fully engaged with the main cavity 270, the through-bore 280 aligns with the threaded bore 180 such that the threaded portion 410 of a mechanical fastener 400 can extend into the through-bore 280 and engage the threads of the threaded bore 180, while the head portion 420 of the fastener 400 abuts the abutment surface 282. The top surface 220 also includes a hosel-receiving cavity 290, which intersects and communicates with the upper cavity 260, such that the two cavities 260, 290 are oriented approximately perpendicular to one another.
The putter head 10 shown in
The hosel 300 shown in
A second, preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in
The lower engagement portion 320 of the preferred embodiment has a polygonal cross-sectional shape along an x-y plane, as shown in
In any of the embodiments disclosed above, the seam 50 created by the first and second body portions 100, 200 where they meet each other can be disguised by incorporating it into the scoreline pattern 112 on the striking face 110. As shown in
In another embodiment of the present invention, shown in
The hosel 600 of this embodiment can be reversibly affixed to the body 500 by inserting the engagement portion 620 into the cavity 570 so that the through-bore 630 is aligned with the front bore 580 and the threaded bore 590, and then inserting the threaded portion 510 of the mechanical fastener into the front bore 580, through-bore 630, and threaded bore 590 so that the threads of the threaded portion 510 engage with the threads of the threaded bore 590. The mechanical fastener 400 includes a head portion 420 with a shoulder 425 that abuts an outer surface 622 of the engagement portion 620 when the fastener 400 is fully engaged with the body 500, further securing the engagement portion 620, and thus the hosel 600, in place with respect to the body 500.
The cavity 570 preferably is disposed entirely in the heel side 530 of the body 500, such that the scorelines 512 are located toe-wards of the cavity 570 on the body 500.
Each piece of the putter head 10 preferably is composed of a high strength material such as titanium alloy or stainless steel. Alternatively, portions of the putter head 10, such as the hosel 30, can be formed of a lighter weight material such as aluminum ally, carbon composite, or plastic to reduce the overall weight of the putter head 10 and ensure a low center of gravity. The material composition of the different parts of the putter head 10 can, however, be adjusted as desired by the golfer to change the center of gravity location.
From the foregoing it is believed that those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize the meritorious advancement of this invention and will readily understand that while the present invention has been described in association with a preferred embodiment thereof, and other embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, numerous changes, modifications and substitutions of equivalents may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention which is intended to be unlimited by the foregoing except as may appear in the following appended claims. Therefore, the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined in the following appended claims.
The present application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/414,266, filed on Jan. 24, 2017, and issued on Nov. 7, 2017, as U.S. Pat. No. 9,808,680, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/440,325, filed on Dec. 29, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62440325 | Dec 2016 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15414266 | Jan 2017 | US |
| Child | 15804011 | US |
