Patents Examined by William M. Pierce
  • Patent number: 11325013
    Abstract: A golf club head comprising a body and a plurality of stiffening members, the tension or compression of which can be adjusted, is disclosed herein. The body comprises a face section, a sole section, and a crown section or a return section, and also defines a hollow interior. Each of the plurality of stiffening members is at least partially disposed within the hollow interior, and extends from the crown section or return section to the sole section to reduce stresses placed on the face during impact with a golf ball. The compression or tension of the stiffening members may be adjusted to affect the stresses experienced by the golf club head upon impact with a golf ball.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: Callaway Golf Company
    Inventors: Jeremy R. Hanhart, Michael Hallack, Homer G. Aguinaldo, James A. Seluga, Christopher A. G. Nunez, Matthew Myers, Denver Holt
  • Patent number: 11318366
    Abstract: An apparatus for cleaning belts of a bowling pinsetter comprising at least one cleaning member for cleaning at least one belt of the bowling pinsetter and a frame for coupling the at least one cleaning member to the bowling pinsetter. The apparatus further comprises at least one positioning member comprising a mechanism for moving and guiding the at least one cleaning member between a cleaning position and a non-cleaning position, wherein the cleaning member is coupled with the bowling pinsetter in the cleaning position and in the non-cleaning position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: FINEMS OY
    Inventor: Marko Lindeman
  • Patent number: 11318367
    Abstract: A card shuffler system includes an automatic card shuffler for shuffling playing cards and a shuffler transport device coupled to the automatic card shuffler to move and support the automatic card shuffler. The shuffler transport device includes a base assembly for moving along a ground surface, a vertical support, and an adjustment assembly coupled to the vertical support. The vertical support extends from the base assembly and is coupled to the automatic card shuffler to cantilever the automatic card shuffler over the base assembly. The adjustment assembly adjusts the height of the automatic card shuffler between at least a first height and a second height along a vertical axis. The vertical adjustment of the shuffler may facilitate installation of the shuffler at an installation point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: SG Gaming, Inc.
    Inventors: Haven A. Mercer, Christopher J. Hannigan, Jamal Kotifani, Matthew J. Lucchetti, Paul K. Scheper, Michael Vizzo
  • Patent number: 11305163
    Abstract: Disclosed golf club heads include a body defining an interior cavity, a striking surface, a sole, a crown, and a hosel, which is configured to provide improved aerodynamic and inertia generating properties of the golf club head. Certain embodiments include an inertia generator positioned in the sole between an area proximate the club head's center of gravity and a position toeward of the center of gravity at the rear of the golf club head. Some embodiments include fixed or removable mass elements, weights or weight assemblies positioned in the sole, including, in some instances, within or adjacent to the inertia generator. In particular embodiments, one or more weight assemblies are movably retained within a weight channel defining a path along the sole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew David Johnson, David Bennett, Dana Ehyaei, Robert Story, Jake Feuerstein
  • Patent number: 11285364
    Abstract: Ball striking devices, such as golf clubs, have a head that includes a face having a striking surface configured for striking a ball, and a body connected to the face and extending rearwardly from the face, with the body having a crown, a sole, a heel side, and a toe side, such that the face and the body combine to define an enclosed internal cavity. A damping member is connected to the body and includes a post extending inwardly into the cavity from an inner surface of the body, a first arm extending from the post toward the heel side of the body, and a second arm extending from the post toward the toe side of the body. The damping member is configured to produce a mass damping effect upon an impact on the face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: David N. Franklin, Michael Wallans
  • Patent number: 11278772
    Abstract: Embodiments of golf club heads with energy storage characteristics are presented herein. In some embodiments, a golf club head comprises a hollow body comprising a strikeface, a heel region, a toe region opposite the heel region, a sole, a top rail and an inflection point. The inflection point provides increase bending of the strikeface thereby providing performance enhancement over clubs without an inflection point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: Martin R. Jertson, Eric J. Morales, Cory S. Bacon, Calvin Wang, Xiaojian Chen, Travis D. Milleman, Evan R. Greer, Murphy R. Alexander
  • Patent number: 11273348
    Abstract: The present disclosure concerns embodiments of a badge and golf club head having a badge therein that can dampen the impact sound made when a hitting surface (a.k.a., face) of the golf club head impacts a golf ball. In one embodiment, a golf club head includes: a face portion surrounded by a topline portion, a toe portion, a sole portion and a heel portion, the face portion having a front striking surface and a back surface; and a badge coupled to the back surface of the face portion, the badge including a planar main body portion and at least one structural member extending outwardly from the main body portion, wherein the at least one structural member includes a lower portion and an upper portion disposed between the topline portion and lower portion, and wherein the at least one structural member has a maximum height, above the main body portion, at the lower portion and a minimum height at the upper portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: TAYLOR MADE GOLF COMPANY, INC.
    Inventors: Scott Taylor, Jason Issertell
  • Patent number: 11266884
    Abstract: The present invention provides an iron-type golf club head that is able to increase the amount of backspin while reducing resistance against the ground, and a golf club set. In an iron-type golf club head having a top surface, a sole surface, a toe surface that connects therebetween, and a face surface that hits a ball, the sole surface is provided with a leading surface sloping to a face side and a trailing surface sloping to a back side in a face-back direction, with a visible boundary line extending in a toe-heel direction as an apex.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Yuki Shimahara
  • Patent number: 11266902
    Abstract: An appliance for setting up at least one bowling pin. The appliance includes an object recognition device for detecting the bowling pin and an orientation of the bowling pin, wherein the orientation of the bowling pin encompasses a vertical orientation and a horizontal orientation of the bowling pin, at least one robot arm which is designed for gripping and holding the bowling pin and for setting up the bowling pin onto a predefined desired position and a control unit which is designed to evaluate data of the object recognition device and to activate the robot arm in dependence on the predefined desired position of the bowling pin and/or on the detected orientation of the bowling pin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: PIN MARKETING SL
    Inventor: Sven Hohnecker
  • Patent number: 11266886
    Abstract: Golf club heads with trench features are described herein. Other embodiments and related methods are also disclosed herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: Ryan M. Stokke, Martin R. Jertson, Brandon L. Fossum
  • Patent number: 11260275
    Abstract: A golf club head 1 has a first wall portion comprising a first member made of first material, a second member made of second material, and a third member made of material. The third material's specific gravity is different from the first material's specific gravity and second material's specific gravity. The weldability between the first material and second material is superior to the weldability between the first material and third material. The first member is fixed to the second member by welding. The third member is fixed to the first member by using the second member. The third member comprises a portion continuous from a first surface to an opposite second surface of the first wall portion in the thickness direction of the first wall portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Yuki Motokawa
  • Patent number: 11243046
    Abstract: A telescopic baton is provided. The telescopic baton comprises a plurality of tubes sequentially arranged in an embedded manner, wherein a tube on an inner side of two adjacent tubes in the plurality of tubes is capable of extending and withdrawing along an axis direction of a tube on an outer side of the two adjacent tubes, a locking groove is formed in an inner wall of a first end of the tube on the outer side; a blade cam locking assembly, which comprises a socket sleeve, a plurality of blade cam blocks, a torsional spring and a fixing mechanism, wherein both extended ends of the torsional spring are respectively abutted against the socket sleeve and the blade cam block; an unlocking structure, which is mounted inside a tube on an outermost side of the plurality of tubes, and is used for unlocking the blade cam locking assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: Nextorch Industries Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Junping Chen, Yongzhi Huang, Bing Liang
  • Patent number: 11236966
    Abstract: Some embodiments of the disclosure provide an expandable baton, which includes a plurality of sleeves, a positioning ring, a plurality of locking pieces and an unlocking rod, wherein the plurality of sleeves are retractably disposed in sequence in a nesting manner; the positioning ring is provided with an avoiding hole; the plurality of locking pieces are disposed at intervals around a peripheral side of the positioning ring and enclose an avoiding space, first axial ends of the plurality of locking pieces extend into the sleeve positioned on an inner side, and second axial ends of the plurality of locking pieces extend out of the sleeve positioned on the inner side and are stuck in a sleeve, positioned on an outer side, of the two adjacent sleeves to lock two adjacent sleeves in an extending state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Nextorch Industries Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Bing Liang, Gaofang He, Yongzhi Huang, Dingkun Zuo
  • Patent number: 11231250
    Abstract: A self-defense system includes a first sleeve retainably securing a deterrent item. A second sleeve is laterally coupled to the first sleeve and houses a knife. The knife has a handle and a tip. A closed portion of the second sleeve houses the knife handle. An open portion of the second sleeve flexibly covers the knife tip. A hand strap is laterally adjacent to the second sleeve and coupled to at least one of: the first sleeve and the second sleeve. The hand strap is sized and shaped to secure the self-defense system about a hand of a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Inventor: Jodi Sheryl Fisher
  • Patent number: 11229834
    Abstract: A portable game device for use when playing a game according to game rules, said game device comprising a kaleidocycle comprising a plurality of n-gon bodies hingedly joined to form a ring of said n-gon bodies wherein a plurality of said n-gon bodies each comprise a surface member provided with game graphics related to said game rules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: Ionized Game Design AB
    Inventor: Pål Keller Carlquist
  • Patent number: 11202937
    Abstract: An interchangeable finger insert system for a bowling ball is provided. An inner sleeve has a cylindrical opening defined at a top end. A base encloses a bottom end of the inner sleeve. A fastener-head feature is defined in the base and accessible through the cylindrical opening. An engagement feature is formed along an exterior surface and configured to allow the inner sleeve to be rotationally inserted into an internal bore. A fastening tool with an elongated shaft and a locking feature defined at a distal end of the shaft is provided. The locking feature shaped to engage the fastener-head feature defined on the inner sleeve. The locking feature of the fastening tool engages the fastener-head feature on the inner sleeve, and rotation of the fastening tool is configured to rotate the inner sleeve into the internal bore thereby locking the inner sleeve in the bowling ball.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: JOPO GRIPS, LLC
    Inventor: Jerome M. Penxa
  • Patent number: 11192004
    Abstract: A ball striking device, such as a golf club, includes a head with a face having a ball-striking surface configured for striking a ball, a body connected to the face, and at least one channel in the ball-striking surface of the face. The region of highest COR response of the face is directionally enlarged toward the channel. Depending on the size, shape, and location of the channel, the face can be altered to provide greater COR response and increased energy transfer for impacts at specific locations on the face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: John T. Stites, Andrew G. V. Oldknow, Philip J. Hatton
  • Patent number: 11185747
    Abstract: Embodiments of golf club heads with energy storage characteristics are presented herein. In some embodiments, a golf club head comprises a hollow body comprising a strikeface, a heel region, a toe region opposite the heel region, a sole, a top rail and an inflection point. The inflection point provides increase bending of the strikeface thereby providing performance enhancement over clubs without an inflection point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: Calvin S. Wang, Ryan M. Stokke, Martin R. Jertson
  • Patent number: 11167182
    Abstract: A head includes a face part, a sole part, and a hosel part. The face part includes a hitting surface and a face back surface. A plurality of score lines are formed on the hitting surface. One or two or more back grooves are formed on the face back surface. With reference to a face center, the face part is divided into four regions: a toe upper region; a toe lower region; a heel upper region; and a heel lower region, and back-groove projected areas of at least two regions out of the four regions are different from each other. Back-groove occupation ratios of at least two regions out of the four regions may be different from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Takahiro Norimura
  • Patent number: 11161019
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a golf club heads having a body portion and a face portion, wherein the face portion comprises a variable thickness profile disposed at an angle on the rear surface of the face plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: Eric J. Morales, Martin R. Jertson, Ryan M. Stokke, Jacob T. Clarke