Patents Examined by Stephen L. Blau
  • Patent number: 10974101
    Abstract: A coupling for securing a golf shaft to a golf club head includes a first component configured to contact, and engage with, the golf shaft, and a second component bonded to the first component and configured to space the first component from the golf club head. The second component includes a second material having a Young's modulus less than a first material of the first component. In another aspect, a coupling includes a shaft engagement element, and a spacer configured to space the first component from the golf club head so that the golf shaft is above the golf club head in its entirety. The spacer includes a material having a Young's modulus no greater than about 10 Gpa. In another aspect, a kit includes a first coupling and a second coupling with at least one of a structural configuration or a material of a vibration dampening element differing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Mika Becktor, Dustin Brekke, Jacob Lambeth
  • Patent number: 10960286
    Abstract: A golf putter alignment system for viewing an orientation of a putter face relative to a putting line. A mirrored viewing surface is retained at a viewing angle by a selective, adjustable mounting system with an engaging portion, a pivot joint for angular adjustment, and a sliding joint for lateral position adjustment. The pivot joint can be a sleeve joint with an outer sleeve pivotable about a longitudinal axis relative to a core member. The sliding joint can be formed with the viewing surface slidable in relation to an elongate member, such as by being retained by a housing that is slidable in relation to the elongate member. A scope surface with an alignment scope can be retained in spaced relation to the viewing surface. In embodiments, the viewing surface can be disposed within the putter head, and a block of transparent material can have a face forming the putter face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Inventor: Jacob H. Paster
  • Patent number: 10960277
    Abstract: An iron-type golf club head has a hosel portion, a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a topline portion, and a striking face including a center face location. A toe side topline-to-sole contour of the striking face is more lofted than a center face topline-to-sole contour of the striking face, a heel side topline-to-sole contour of the striking face is less lofted than the center face topline-to-sole contour, a topline side toe-to-heel contour of the striking face is more open than a center face toe-to-heel contour of the striking face, and a sole side toe-to-heel contour of the striking face is more closed than the center face toe-to-heel contour. The toe side topline-to-sole contour, the center face topline-to-sole contour, the heel side topline-to-sole contour, the topline side toe-to-heel contour, the center face toe-to-heel contour, and the sole side toe-to-heel contour are straight line contours.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Vincent Greaney, Kraig Alan Willett, Joe Hoffman, Todd P. Beach, Connor Mark Halberg, Andrew Kickertz, Joseph Yu, Bing-Ling Chao
  • Patent number: 10953292
    Abstract: A golf club head comprises a sole, a recessed sole port in the sole; and a rotatably adjustable sole piece adapted to be at least partially received within the sole port and comprising a central body having a plurality of contact surfaces adapted to contact the sole port and being offset from each other along a central axis extending through the central body of the sole piece. The sole piece can be positioned at least partially within the sole port at five or more rotational and axial positions with respect to the central axis, wherein at each rotational position, at least one of said contact surfaces of the central body contacts the sole port to set the axial position of the sole piece. The sole port and/or the sole piece can be generally pentagonal in shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Kraig Alan Willett, Nathan T. Sargent, Michael Franz
  • Patent number: 10953293
    Abstract: Described herein is a golf club head that comprises a body and a strike plate. The body comprises a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, and a top portion. The strike plate comprises an outer peripheral edge and at least a portion of a strike face. Furthermore, the strike plate is welded to the body via a peripheral weld between the outer peripheral edge of the strike plate and the body. The outer peripheral edge of the strike plate comprises at least one welded portion, welded to the body via the peripheral weld, and at least one non-welded portion, not welded to the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: TAYLOR MADE GOLF COMPANY, INC.
    Inventors: Paul M. Demkowski, Bret H. Wahl, Scott Taylor, Sanjay Kuttappa
  • Patent number: 10940372
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a set of golf clubs comprising long irons, mid irons and short irons. Preferably, the long and mid irons have a face stabilizing bar and back panel that have a plurality of apertures in the face stabilizing bar and/or the back wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Marni D. Ines, Jonathan Hebreo
  • Patent number: 10940370
    Abstract: Various embodiments of a golf putter having a putter head attached to an elongated shaft with the putter head defining a retention cavity configured to engage and retain a golf ball therein are disclosed. The retention cavity is formed along the back region of the putter head and is configured to have a diameter that is slightly less than the diameter of a regulation sized golf ball such that the golf ball is retained therein when urged into the confines of the retention cavity by the putter head. The putter head further includes an alignment aid that cooperates with the retention cavity to assist in aligning the golf putter during a putting stroke.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventor: Thomas J. Morris
  • Patent number: 10933287
    Abstract: An iron-type golf club head includes a heel, a toe, a top portion, a sole portion, a top portion, a rear portion, and a striking wall. The striking wall includes a striking face having a plurality of scorelines and a face center and a rear surface. A minimum striking wall thickness Tmin is no greater than 2.5 min. A thickened central region of the striking wall has a maximum thickness, Tmax, greater than Tmin but no greater than 2.75. A first thickness T1 of the striking wall corresponds with a first location spaced toe-ward from the face center by a first distance D1 of between 20 mm and 30 mm. A second thickness T2 of the striking wall. corresponds with a second location spaced heel-ward from the face center by the first distance D1 such that T1 is greater than T2 by no less than 0.05 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2021
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Dustin Brekke, Anthony Munson, Farbod Gharaei
  • Patent number: 10912973
    Abstract: A golf grip having a weighted rear, longitudinal underside section providing a high Moment of Inertia to increase resistance to twisting and turning when the grip is connected to a golf club during the execution of a golf shot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Inventor: Guerin D. Rife
  • Patent number: 10912972
    Abstract: The present invention is a mono-manual golf swing apparatus. More particularly, the apparatus is an accessory for a golf club which facilitates singular manual dexterous handling of a golf club and eliminates unintended slipping while swinging. Of further advantage, this apparatus may be easily removed, attached and detached single-handedly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Inventor: Lawrence Fortin
  • Patent number: 10905923
    Abstract: A golf club head including a crown defining the top surface of the club head and including a crown portion, a crown recess region formed in the crown portion and defined by a crown ledge and a bonding wall, and a crown insert disposed at least partially within the crown recess region. The size and uniformity of the junction between the crown insert and the bonding wall may be determined by measuring the dimensions of the junction at critical points on the club head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Mattieu Bovee, Brian Bazzel, Todd Beach, Stephen Kraus
  • Patent number: 10905928
    Abstract: A putter-type golf club head that, when oriented in a reference position, includes a blade portion having a striking face, a top line, and a sole, the striking face in turn including a face center. The club head further includes a rear portion in communication with, and rearward of, the blade portion, and it includes an alignment element rearward of, and recessed toward the sole from, the top line. The alignment element defines a virtual center line segment oriented in a substantially front-to-rear direction at a height between 19 mm and 24 mm from a lowermost point of the sole, the center line segment having a length no less than 34 mm and being not spaced more than 10 mm from a virtual vertical plane passing through the face center and extending generally perpendicular to the striking face. A width of the club head is no less than 3.0 in.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Adam K. Sheldon, Mika Becktor
  • Patent number: 10898767
    Abstract: A golf club head comprises a sole, a recessed sole port in the sole; and a rotatably adjustable sole piece adapted to be at least partially received within the sole port and comprising a central body having a plurality of contact surfaces adapted to contact the sole port and being offset from each other along a central axis extending through the central body of the sole piece. The sole piece can be positioned at least partially within the sole port at five or more rotational and axial positions with respect to the central axis, wherein at each rotational position, at least one of said contact surfaces of the central body contacts the sole port to set the axial position of the sole piece. The sole port and/or the sole piece can be generally pentagonal in shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2021
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Nathan T. Sargent, Joseph Reeve Nielson, Matthew David Johnson, Matthew Greensmith, Todd P. Beach, Michael Franz
  • Patent number: 10898770
    Abstract: A head includes a head body and a face plate. The face plate includes a plate front surface and a plate rear surface. The head body includes an opening at which the face plate is disposed, a back support portion that includes a back receiving surface abutting on an outer peripheral edge portion of the plate rear surface and that supports the face plate from a back side, a face outer portion that is a part of a hitting face and that is located on a face peripheral side relative to the plate front surface, and a body groove that is located on the back side of the face outer portion and that is recessed toward the face outer portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2021
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Kiyofumi Matsunaga, Yasushi Sugimoto, Yuki Motokawa
  • Patent number: 10888754
    Abstract: A grip assembly for an item of sporting equipment. The grip assembly is built around a core that is an elongated tubular body dimensioned for mounting on a grip mounting portion of the sporting equipment. The tubular body is formed with a three dimensional open structure located between an inner and an outer wall. The outer surface of the outer wall can also be equipped with a sleeve or other cover to facilitate the grip of a user. Sensors and transmission equipment located within the grip structure can be used to transmit data on forces that the grip is being subjected to, to reception equipment located for convenient viewing by a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Inventors: Harry Mattthew Wells, Gregg A Tashker
  • Patent number: 10888751
    Abstract: A golf club head comprising a channel, a slidable weight that can be reversibly fixed at any point within the channel, and a pocket to store a portion of the slidable weight is disclosed herein. The slidable weight comprises first and second weight plates, each made of materials having different densities, a lightweight retainer, a screw, and a nut. The second weight plate has the same dimensions as, and is interchangeable with, the first weight plate and is disposed in a pocket in the sole proximate the face of the golf club head. The retainer and nut have snap-fit features that allow them to remain loosely attached to one another during adjustment of the assembly and when one weight plate is swapped with the other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Assignee: Callaway Golf Company
    Inventors: Austin L. Frederickson, Timothy G. Scott
  • Patent number: 10888755
    Abstract: A golf club is disclosed having a shaft which reduces or dampens vibrations. A method for making the golf club is also disclosed. A cavity is centrally formed within the shaft and a viscoelastic material is disposed within the cavity. The viscoelastic material forms a network of elastic dampeners configured to attenuate propagation of vibrational energy through the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Inventor: Adam C. Sclafani
  • Patent number: 10881925
    Abstract: Described herein is a golf club head that comprises a body and a strike plate. The body comprises a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, and a top portion. The strike plate comprises an outer peripheral edge and at least a portion of a strike face. Furthermore, the strike plate is welded to the body via a peripheral weld between the outer peripheral edge of the strike plate and the body. The outer peripheral edge of the strike plate comprises at least one welded portion, welded to the body via the peripheral weld, and at least one non-welded portion, not welded to the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Assignee: TAYLOR MADE GOLF COMPANY, INC.
    Inventors: Paul M. Demkowski, Bret H. Wahl, Scott Taylor
  • Patent number: 10881914
    Abstract: An improved golf club putter having a selectable hosel, each hosel having a characteristic lie angle and loft angle, wherein the hosel is mounted to the head of the golf club, and wherein the hosel has a position orientation feature which aligns the shaft and hand grip with respect to the putter head for accurate operation of the golf club putter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Inventor: Edward Hamburger
  • Patent number: 10881924
    Abstract: The present invention is direct to a set of golf clubs comprising long irons, mid-irons and short irons. The invention contemplates the use of titanium or steel for the main body portion and a tungsten weight member coupled to the toe and a tungsten heel weight member coupled in a hosel cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Jason A. Mata, Marni D. Ines, Jonathan Hebreo, Joshua G. Breier, Michael E. Franz, Joshua C. Stokes, Grant M. Martens