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  Golf club putter heads and golf putters including sameUSPTO Application #: 20080096682Title: Golf club putter heads and golf putters including same Abstract: Golf putter heads, gold putting kits, and golf putters including same are described. One putter head comprises a body having a putting face, a toe, a heel, a sole, and a crown, the sole and crown extending away from the face to an aft-mass, the body further having at least one substantially vertical wall extending from the crown to the sole and, with an internal surface of each of the face and the aft-mass, defining at least a port cavity and a starboard cavity. The port cavity opens to the port side of the body and the starboard cavity opens to the starboard side. The crown has an aiming feature on a top external surface thereof. The port and starboard cavities are non-ball-striking features, allowing golfers to pick up a pin flag stick, or another golf club, without stooping, a great benefit to golfers with bad backs and elderly golfers. (end of abstract) Agent: Jeffrey L. Wendt The Wendt Firm, P.C. - The Woodlands, TX, US Inventor: Angela O. Fox USPTO Applicaton #: 20080096682 - Class: 473251 (USPTO) The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080096682. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001]1. Field of Invention [0002]The present invention relates generally to the field of golf, and more specifically to apparatus for putting. [0003]2. Related Art [0004]There are many varieties of golf putters and golf putter heads. The following U.S. Patents are representative of the stare of the art: U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,059,971; 6,478,690; 6,471,600; 6,960,149; 6,988,955; 7,052,411; 6,878,072; 6,966,845; 5,685,784; 6,896,625; 6,796,911; 6,929,559; 7,048,639; 4,141,556; 4,712,798, as are the following published U.S. patent applications: 2005/0075185; 2006/0148585; 2006/0148584; 2006/0068935. There have also been issued design patents, such as Des. 246,329. [0005]Despite these advances in the art, it would be advantageous and an advance in the golf putter head and golf putter art to provide a combination of putting accuracy features, such as weight, balance, and aiming ability of the putter head and putter, with other functional features, such as the ability to pick up flag sticks and other golf clubs frequently brought onto the putting green using the putter head and putter. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006]In accordance with the present invention, golf putter heads and golf putter clubs including same are described that reduce or overcome limitations of previously known golf putter heads and golf putter clubs. The putter heads and putters including same combine at least one ball-striking feature with at least one non-ball-striking functional feature. As used herein the term "ball-striking feature" means a feature that helps a golfer in his or her putting technique and/or accuracy in making putts (whether actually playing on a golf course or merely practicing putting, for example on carpet into a cup). An example might be an aiming or alignment feature on a top surface of the putter head. On the other hand, the term "non-ball-striking function feature" means the putter head has at least one feature that has noting to do with putting per se, but helps the golfer do something else, for example retrieve a flag stick, or another golf club laying on the green. An example of this might be a cavity in the putter head. [0007]A first aspect of the invention are golf putter heads, one embodiment comprising a body having a putting face, a toe, a heel, a sole, and a crown, the sole and crown each extending away from the purring face to an aft-mass, the body further having at least one substantially vertical wall extending from an internal surface of the crown to an internal surface of the sole and, with internal surface of each of the face and the aft-mass, defining at least a port cavity and a starboard cavity (which may or may not have substantially equal volumes), the port cavity open to the port side of the body and the starboard cavity open to the starboard side of the body; the crown having an aiming feature on a top external surface thereof. The port and starboard cavities are non-ball-striking features, and allow the golfer to pick up a pin flag stick, or another golf club, without stooping, a great benefit to golfers with bad backs and elderly golfers. [0008]Putter heads in accordance with the invention include those wherein the body, when viewed from the top (plan view) is substantially mallet-shaped, and those wherein the body is substantially triangular. In certain embodiments, a port portion and a starboard portion of the sole internal surface may be exposed by the crown portion curving inward toward the center of the body, however this is not required in all embodiments. In certain embodiments, the at least one substantially vertical wall is a single wall centrally located in the body and extending perpendicular to the putting face. In these embodiments, a forward end of the substantially vertical wall provides support to the putting face and may define a "sweet spot" for the golfer, as may be indicated by the aiming feature. The substantially vertical wall need not be constant in thickness, buy may, for example, start thick near its joint with the sole internal surface and gradually become thinner as it approaches a joint with the internal surface of the crown. In other embodiments, the opposite may be true. In yet other embodiments the substantially vertical wall may be thickest near both joints and thinnest in a mid-section of the wall. In certain embodiments, the substantially vertical wall may join with the internal surface of the face in one joint, or in more than one joint, as it may with the aft-mass portion. [0009]In certain embodiments, the face of the body may have a recessed portion in which is placed an insert material. The body and the insert of the putter heads of the invention may each comprise metal, which may be the same or different. The insert material may also be selected from a variety of natural and synthetic polymeric materials, such as natural and synthetic elastomers. Thermoplastic elastomers may be used as insert materials. In certain other embodiments, the putter head face comprises a metal to which a magnetic material may adhere to. In these embodiments, which may be termed putter kit embodiments, the golfer may select a putter face material conductive to the conditions, adhere the chosen putter face material to the putter metal face by magnetic force, and either leave that surface on for the next putt, or remove the selected putter face material. There may be two or more putter face materials in the putter kit, which may be kept in a pouch or bag and carried by the golfer. Alternatively, the golfer may wish to carry the putter face materials on his or her hat, or another article worn by the golfer, such as a waist belt, or arm band, to which the magnetic putter face material adhere for safe keeping when not in use. The putter face materials may be color-coded and/or numbered according to their physical properties (hardness, elasticity, etc.) for ease of selection. In addition, they may or may not have the same shape as that of the putter face; for example, some golfers will want a small circle, so as not to change the weight and balance of the putter substantially; other golfers may want a putter face material as large as the putter head face itself, to maximize the ball striking surface. [0010]A second aspect of the invention are golf putters including one of the inventive putter heads and/or kits. [0011]The various aspects of the invention will become more apparent upon review of the brief description of the drawings, the detailed description of the invention, and the claims that follow. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0012]The manner in which the objectives of the invention and other desirable characteristics can be obtained is explained in the following description and attached drawings in which: [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mallet-shaped putter-head in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; [0014]FIG. 2 is a schematic side elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 1; [0015]FIG. 3 is a schematic front view, partially in phantom, of the embodiment of FIG. 1; [0016]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along section line 4-4 of FIG. 2; [0017]FIG. 5 is a schematic exploded perspective view, partially in phantom, of an alternative to the embodiment of FIG. 1, illustrating one possible kit of the invention; [0018]FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of a substantially triangular-shaped putter head in accordance with the invention; [0019]FIG. 7 is a schematic bottom view of the embodiment of FIG. 6; [0020]FIG. 8 is a schematic front view, partially in phantom, of the embodiment of FIG. 6; and [0021]FIGS. 9A and 9B are schematic side elevation and cross-sectional views, respectively, of the embodiment of FIG. 6. 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