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Golf club with uniform face thicknessRelated Patent Categories: Games Using Tangible Projectile, Golf, Club Or Club Support, Head, PutterGolf club with uniform face thickness description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060160638, Golf club with uniform face thickness. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] The present application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/644,261 filed Jan. 14, 2005 and entitled GOLF CLUB WITH UNIFORM FACE THICKNESS, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of golf equipment. More specifically, one embodiment of the invention relates to a golf club head, particularly a putter head, adapted with a face which is substantially uniform in thickness and relates to a method of producing the golf club bead. [0004] 2. Related Art [0005] For decades, a common adage has been repeated by golfers and golfing fans alike--"drive for show, putt for dough." This adage represents a common understanding by the golfing community that putting is one of the most critical parts in the game of golf. Putting involves the use of a specialized club, referred to as a "putter," which is normally used by a golfer when his ball is resting upon a putting green. Typically, a putter features a putter head with a face portion having a generally flat surface for striking the ball and a shaft that extends upward from the putter head. The design of the putter head not only facilitates controlled movement of the golf ball, but also provides sensory feedback to the golfer. [0006] In putting, a golfer relies on three of his five senses: sight, feel and sound. It is well established that the "sound" of the putter head making contact with the golf ball provides a golfer with a substantial amount of feedback information, which consciously and subconsciously assists him when hitting putts in the future. For example, the sound of impact improves the golfer's awareness as to whether the putter face made proper impact with the golf ball (e.g., impact at the sweet-spot on the putter face). This sound in combination with "feel," which is a collection of sensory observations by the golfer during a putt (e.g., detected amount of vibration at impact, estimated velocity of his putting stroke, etc.), constitute feedback information that can be used by the golfer to judge how hard to hit the golf ball for future putts at varying distances. In fact, "sound" is so closely related to "feel" that, in many cases, "sound" is an important factor of "feel". [0007] For putters, it is desirable for the sound of a putter face impacting the ball at the sweet spot to differ from the sound of an off-center impact. The "sweet spot" of the putter face is the point on the face where there is no torque or twisting (vertically and/or horizontally) of the putter. This is the optimal location of impact because it does not cause any unwanted angular rotation of the golf ball, unlike an off-center impact. Besides loss of direction, an off-center impact causes a loss of distance. [0008] Currently, to amplify the sound of impact and provide greater feel, many putter heads, such as putter head 100 as shown in FIG. 1, are produced with a recessed cavity 110 behind a face 120. One problem associated with putter head 100 is that the thickness of face 120, namely the distance between a ball-striking surface 130 and a back wall 140 of cavity 110, is commonly tapered and non-uniform. As shown, when ball-striking surface 130 is created with positive loft, face 120 has a greater thickness toward a bottom flange 112 of cavity 110 than a top flange 114 of cavity 110. For instance, the measured thickness T1 is less than the measured thickness T2, which is less than the measured thickness T3. This poses a number of problems. [0009] One problem relates to the lack of audible distinction between impact at the sweet-spot of the putter head and an off-center impact. For instance, when hitting a fifty-foot putt, golfers tend to stroke the putter so that the point of impact is off-center and low (toward a bottom edge 150 of putter head 100). Unfortunately, due to its tapered and non-uniform thickness, face 120 does not distinctively resonate between an off-center, low impact and a "sweet spot" impact. This lack of sound separation does not fully provide a sufficient level of feedback data that golfer's normally obtain from impact sounds. [0010] Another problem is that the tapered, non-uniform thickness of face 120 tends to cause substantial differences in rebound speed of the golf ball after impact. For instance, with conventional putter head 100, the rebound speed of the golf ball is greatly influenced by the vertical location of impact on the face 120. This lack of consistency increases the difficulty for a golfer to find the proper stroke velocity for putts at different distances. [0011] It is noted that cavity 110 is tapered and non-uniform in thickness because, as shown in FIG. 2, both a cutting end 210 and a cutting edge 220 of conventional end mills 200, typically used to cut cavity 110 of FIG. 1, possess the same outer diameter thickness. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, according to current methods of manufacture, the presence of top and bottom flanges 112 and 114 precludes back wall 140 from being cut in parallel with ball-striking surface 130 of FIG. 1. SUMMARY [0012] A putter head in accordance with an embodiment of the present application includes a face with a striking surface with a predetermined angular loft and a pocket positioned behind the striking surface, wherein the pocket is formed by a back wall that is adjacent to the striking surface and extends in a first direction, and at least four flanges that protrude from the back wall in a second direction, differing from the first direction, wherein the back wall is substantially parallel to the striking surface. [0013] A method for manufacturing a putter head including a face with a striking surface that has a loft of a predetermined angle and a pocket formed behind the face defined by a back wall positioned adjacent to the striking surface extending in a first direction and at least four flanges extending from the back wall in a second direction, different from the first direction in accordance with an embodiment of the present application includes positioning the putter head in a predetermined position and altering the pocket of the putter head so that the back wall is substantially parallel to the striking surface. [0014] An end mill for altering a pocket of a golf club head including a striking surface having a predetermined loft angle according to an embodiment of the present application includes a shank and a cutter coupled to a first end of the shank and adapted to remove material from the pocket of the golf club head positioned behind the striking surface, wherein the cutter includes a plurality of cutting surfaces including an end-cutting surface and a side-cutting surface positioned around the perimeter of the end-cutting surface, the side-cutting surface being tapered with an angle at least equal to the predetermined loft angle. [0015] An end mill for altering a pocket of a golf club head including a striking surface having a predetermined loft angle according to another embodiment of the present application includes a cutting end positioned on a first end of the end mill and a cutting edge tapered at an angle at least equal to the predetermined angle from the first end back to a second end, wherein the end mill accesses areas adjacent to both a back wall and a top or bottom flange of the pocket of the golf club head. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0016] The features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention in which: [0017] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional putter head having a tapered, substantially non-uniform face. [0018] FIG. 2 is an illustration of a conventional end mill for use in cutting a pocket in the putter head of FIG. 1; [0019] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional end mill of FIG. 2 in use to cut the cavity according to conventional methods of manufacture. [0020] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a first exemplary embodiment of a putter having a face pocket and adapted in accordance with the invention. Continue reading about Golf club with uniform face thickness... Full patent description for Golf club with uniform face thickness Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Golf club with uniform face thickness patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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