Abstract: A method for chemically etching a forged striking plate for a golf club to uniformly remove 0.002 inch to 0.015 inch of material therefrom. The forged striking plate is placed in an acidic bath to uniformly remove material from all surfaces of the striking plate. The forging process, conducted prior to etching, involves multiple heating and pressing of a metal bar to obtain a final face member configuration. The heating of the metal bar is performed at temperatures below 1000° C. for less than twenty minutes. The final face member configuration has a striking plate with regions of variable thickness. The metal bar is preferably composed of a forged titanium material.

Abstract: A golf club head having a defined internal cavity, and a golf club head containing a bi-material weight having a nonhomogeneous structure. A method to add the bi-material weight to the golf club entails heating, vibration and cooling to produce the nonhomogeneous structure.

Abstract: A golf club having an interior hosel that is disposed inward from a striking plate to allow for compliance of the striking plate during impact with a golf ball. The present invention also includes a method for producing the golf club in which the interior hosel is attached to a lateral extension of a face member. The lateral extension is connected to the striking plate. The striking plate is preferably composed of a forged titanium material.

Abstract: A golf club wherein a redistribution of weight is provided to increase the moment of inertia but to decrease the swing weight of the club and thus allow increased velocity about the pivot point of the club when using the same energy input or swing, by means of a hollow tubular extension of one to six inches, preferably three to five inches, bearing a weight of 25 to 200 grams, preferably 50 to about 100 grams, at the end of the hollow tubular extension, which weight is thereby upwardly spaced from the gripping surface of the club so as to place the added weight in alignment with the vertical or longitudinal axis of the club shaft and behind the hands of the golfer during a swing, as well as such an extension comprising an adapter for converting a normal golf club to such a club.

Abstract: A golf club head has a weight compartment within a hollow interior, and a weight member that is injected into the weight compartment subsequent to formation of the body of the golf club head. The preferred weight member is bismuth. The golf club head has a body that has a volume between 140 cubic centimeters and 350 cubic centimeters. The body of the golf club head weighs between 140 grams and 215 grams.

Abstract: A grip assembly for the handle of a golf club shaft where the grip includes a resilient underlisting sleeve over which is spirally wrapped a resilient strip. An elastic finishing collar is interposed between the lower end of the sleeve and strip to secure such sleeve and strip to the handle of a golf club shaft. An elastic finishing collar is interposed between the lower end of the sleeve and the strip to secure such sleeve and strip to the handle of a golf club shaft as a substitute for a synthetic plastic ferrule or length of finishing tape utilized in the prior art.

Abstract: A line of golf clubs tailored to the swing speed of the golfer. The basic principles of the present invention can be applied to a single club, but optimally these principles are applied to a plurality of different club heads designed to the specific speed range of the golfer; namely, 50 to 65 mph, 66 to 80 mph, 81 to 95 mph, 96 to 105 mph, and 106 to 140 mph. Maximum ball exit speed from the club head is achieved from club face deflection in each of these ranges near the maximum at which the face wall reaches its permanent elastic deformation. To achieve these principles, the face wall firstly is designed so that the face wall modulus of elasticity increases from a low modulus for the low swing speed range to progressively higher moduli for the higher swing speed ranges. Face modulus can be altered by a variety of a techniques including face wall thinning and face wall reinforcement or a combination of both.

Abstract: A golf club having a club head with a striking plate having a thickness in the range of 0.010 to 0.250 inches is disclosed herein. The club head may be composed of three pieces, a face, a sole and a crown. Each of the pieces may be composed of a titanium material. The striking plate of the club head may have an aspect ratio less than 1.7. The striking plate may also have concentric regions of thickness with the thickness portion in the center. The club head may be composed of a titanium material, have a volume in the range of 175 cubic centimeters to 400 cubic centimeters, a weight in the range of 165 grams to 300 grams, and a string plate surface area in the range of 4.00 square inches to 7.50 square inches. The golf club head may also have a coefficient of restitution greater than 0.8 under test conditions such as the USGA test conditions specified pursuant to Rule 4-1e, Appendix II, of the Rules of Golf for 1998-1999.

Abstract: A golf club shaft is formed with an elongated body using a combination of fiber-reinforced plastics and metal-coated fibers to obtain the optimally characterized golf club for a particular player. In one embodiment, a sheet-rolled or filament wound core is covered by a filament wound outer layer having at least one ply including metal-coated fibers. The fibers can be metal-coated with metals such as: nickel, titanium, platinum, zinc, copper, brass, tungsten, cobalt, gold or silver. The use of metal-coated fibers allows the use of combinations of fiber reinforced plastic and metal-coated fibers in producing golf shafts with optimum performance properties. For example, the use of metal-coated fibers allows the addition of weight to the shaft without significantly influencing its longitudinal or torsional rigidity.

Abstract: A is a golf club head in which a mass-adjusting weight is inserted into the inside of a cylindrical hosel portion, wherein a flange that can be deformed in a radial direction of the hosel portion is formed in a peripheral portion of the foregoing weight and the diameter of the flange is increased so as to fix the foregoing weight to the foregoing hosel portion.

Abstract: A texture coating for golf club heads provides a durable and aesthetically pleasing exterior for wood, iron or putter golf club heads. The texture coating is a combination of a medium material, resin particles and a coupling agent. In a preferred embodiment the medium is a paint, the resin particles are olefins, most preferably polyethylene or polypropylene, and the coupling agent is a silane compound.

Abstract: A golf club head having a defined internal cavity, and a golf club head containing a bi-material weight having a nonhomogeneous structure is disclosed herein. A method to add the bi-material weight to the golf club entails heating, vibration and cooling to produce the nonhomogeneous structure is also disclosed herein.

Abstract: A face wall for the hitting face of a golf club head is supported on a hollow structural shell. The face wall is formed to realize maximum face strength with minimum face mass. This is accomplished by varying the thickness of the face wall so it is thickest in the general vicinity of the face center and becomes thinner toward the edges of the face. This allows the club head to weigh less, incorporate a large face area and adequate strength while maintaining high moments of inertia of the head.

Abstract: A method of putting a golf ball with a longer putting club is disclosed. The putter is of sufficient length that a player can hold the putter handle against the player's sternum and putt the golf ball positioned at the player's feet. The player maintains his wrists in a constant orientation relative to the putter handle during the putting stroke. The stroke is carried out by the player pivoting his shoulders first in one direction and then in an opposite direction to strike the golf ball with the putter head in a controlled manner to propel the ball toward a target.

Abstract: Metal wood and wood clubs with a “swing-weight housing” using “variable swing-weights” creating a variable swingweight”, an “automatic counterbalancing” effect and “varied center of gravity” effects in addition to an increased trajectory and shot distance to the golf ball when hit. The “swing-weights” are housed in a “swing-weight housing” within the golf club cavity. On address, the club head total weight is the “swing-weights” plus the club head. On the upswing the “swing-weights” travel from the “swing-weight housing” through the hosel cavity, into the hollow shaft, coming to rest in the grip end of the hollow shaft. On the downswing the “swing-weights” reverses its travel to the club head, picking up momentum and slightly increasing club head speed.

Abstract: In accordance with the present invention, a set of golf club heads is disclosed. The set includes golf club heads with a sole and a cavity back. The cavity back contains at least one mass element or cavity weight. The weight of an upper portion of the peripheral weight, the mass element of the cavity back, and the weight of the sole can be changed so that the center of gravity rises from the long irons to the short irons. The center of gravity can also be changed in a set by using a dense material on various portions of the club head. By raising the center of gravity from the long irons to the short irons, a golfer will see a peak trajectory height along a line for each club head that is substantially more consistent along that line throughout the set than prior art clubs provide.

Abstract: An automated apparatus for installation of a handgrip on a golf club shaft is disclosed herein. The handgrip is installed on the golf club shaft in a dry state. The present invention does not utilize solvents, lubricants or the like for the installation of the handgrip onto the golf club shaft. The apparatus has a taping mechanism for automatically wrapping a double-sided tape onto the butt end of the golf club shaft. The apparatus also has a gripping mechanism for preparing a grip for automated installation on a shaft while in a dry state. The apparatus also has a shaft shuttle mechanism for transferring the golf club shaft from the taping mechanism to the gripping mechanism. The gripping mechanism has means for expanding the handgrip prior to placement on the butt end of the golf club shaft.

Abstract: An apparatus and method of highly efficiently purifying nitrogen oxides are provided. An NOx chemisorption reduction catalyst chemically absorbs NOx under a condition that an exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine is an oxidizing atmosphere and deoxidizes adsorbed NOx under a reducing atmosphere. An SOx absorbent absorbs SOx contained in the exhaust gas of the oxidizing atmosphere, and deoxidizes and release SOx absorbed in the reducing atmospheric exhaust gas. The catalyst and absorbent are arranged in the exhaust path to purify the exhaust gas while preventing or suppressing SOx-poisoning of the NOx chemisorption reduction catalyst.

Abstract: A golf putter which aids a golfer in aiming a putt and avoiding twisting of the shaft in the hand during a swing includes a head provided with a pair of laterally spaced apart trailing members which protrude rearwardly of the rear surface of the head and function cooperatively as weighting/aiming members. The trailing members are preferably located equidistant from a vertical center plane through the sweet spot of the head and have in plan view longitudinally directed visual features perpendicular to the front ball-impacting face of the head, which assist a golfer in visually framing an intended initial ball trajectory to a target hole on a golf green, along with a ball impact vector perpendicular to the center of percussion or sweet spot of the head. Each of the trailing members is preferably laterally symmetric, and may include a longitudinal index line marked on the upper surface of the member, to facilitate visual framing of a putt.

Abstract: The present invention teaches a dynamically balanced putter with a sliding hosel to ensure that the center of mass of the putter lies on the axis defined by the putter shaft. The putter head includes a longitudinal slot which mates with an elongated “dovetail” tab on the hosel to slidingly position the axis, hosel, and putter head such that the aforementioned balancing objective is achieved. In a preferred embodiment, a dovetailed tab is mated with a mating slot, and the putter head is slid into a position with minor adjustments following an initial balancing, which results in a dynamic balancing of the entire putter. By rotating the putter about the shaft or suspending the shaft and evaluating the angle against vertical, minute adjustments can be made by sliding the putter head along the dovetailed tab until complete balancing is achieved. Once the putter head has been fixed using either a strong adhesive or other fixing means, the putter can then be used in its intended manner.