Golf club with plural alternative impact surfaces

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/469,178 filed Aug. 31, 2006, which claims priority of U.S. Patent Application 60/758,350 filed Jan. 12, 2006.

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.

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;

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Previous Patent Application:
Golf putter
Next Patent Application:
Golf club head and method of making same
Industry Class:
Games using tangible projectile

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