Golf club putter

Abstract

A golf club putter having a centerline that when extended through the length of the putter extends through the shaft and the hosel. The putter is configured such that at about when the putter head at a desired contact point disposed thereon contacts a golf ball, the centerline extends through to about a point of tangency of the golf ball and a surface where the golf ball is disposed. With this alignment, the putter greatly reduces or completely obviates the need to weight any one end of the putter head to compensate for an application of torque.

Description

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/438,950, filed Jan. 9, 2003.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Technical Field

[0003] The present invention relates to a golf club design. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved design for a putter that reduces undesirable torque from being transmitted to the shaft of the putter.

[0004] 2. Description of Related Art

[0005] Golf putters are typically designed with a club head having a generally planar face with little or no angle in relation to the ground and ball as compared to other golf clubs such as woods and irons. Virtually all putters have a putter head having a shank stemming upward toward a shaft designed to be gripped by a player's hands. To connect the shaft to the putter head, a hosel is situated to receive the terminal end of the shaft that is closest to the ground.

[0006] With many conventional putters, the centerline of the shaft fails to extend through to the centerline of the golf ball being contacted during a player's swing. Hence, a putter without any modifications is likely to be swung slightly off target because of the inertia encountered with the club's swing due to the distribution of mass throughout the club. Because of the putter's inertia, a user is likely to apply an undesired torque to the putter causing the swing to be astray.

[0007] The reason for this inertia is that the centerline in most prior art putters falls across the face of the putter's head at the heel side of the sight line. To compensate for this, many prior art putters place additional weight on the toe side of the putter head in an attempt to eliminate or at least reduce the application of torque to the putter. Because each player will have different characteristics in size, shape, and movement, the optimal amount of weight to include on the toe side of the putter head will vary per person. Therefore, a great deal of time, money, and other resources is usually required by each player to find the best putter for that individual. An improved design obviating the need to add weight to any particular end of the putter head is needed so that the generation of unwanted club torque can be reduced or, more preferably, eliminated. As it is desirous in the game of golf to minimize the number of strokes taken for a player, an improved putter design is desired to achieve this goal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] A golf club putter in accordance with the present invention comprises a shaft for the golfer to hold the putter and a putter head affixed to a terminal end of the shaft wherein a hosel is provided at an end of the putter head for receiving the terminal end of the shaft. The putter is formed such that, at about when the putter head at a desirable contact point disposed thereon contacts a golf ball, a centerline extends through about a center of the shaft and continues on through about a center portion of the hosel. Further, the centerline, at the moment of contact of the putter head and golf ball, intersects with a sightline of the player and the golf ball. Even more preferable, the intersection of the centerline and the sightline occurs at about a point of tangency of the golf ball and a surface where the golf ball is disposed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0010] FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a putter head made in accordance with the present invention showing the centerline of the shaft passing through the center of the hosel and ball.

[0011] FIG. 2 is an end elevation view of the putter of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] In FIGS. 1 and 2, a bottom portion of putter 10 is shown having a putter head 20 affixed to an end 18 of shaft 12. A hosel 16 is provided at a top end of shank 26 to receive end 18 and thereby retain the assembly in a fixed and desirable position. At a bottom end of shank 26, heel 24 generally comprises the rear portion of putter head 20 while toe 22 generally comprises the forward portion. A face 21 is an essentially planar surface provided along the longitudinal front of putter head 20 for contacting a golf ball 30. A rear portion 23 defines a longitudinal section of putter head 20, which may extend outward and away in relation to a face 21. A bottom portion 25 defines the length of putter head 20, which is disposed above ground 40, or other surface, when putter 10 is used in play. The shape of bottom portion 25 may be either planar or arcuate. As to the composition of the putter, any suitable standard material know to be used in the construction of golf club putters may be employed.

[0013] To obviate the need for toe 22 to have a greater weight relative to heel 24, as provided with prior art putters, hosel 16 is configured such that centerline 14, which passes through the center of shaft 12, continues through the center of hosel 16. When centerline 14 is projected to and through ground 40, centerline 14 intersects with sightline 32 at the moment face 21 at about contact point 36 contacts ball 30 (hereafter referred to as “Moment of Intersection”). Sightline 32 is the intended line extending from the player's eyes down through the center of golf ball 30 to ground 40. Preferably, the centerline 14 passes through the centers of shaft 12 and hosel 16 and intersects at about tangent point 34 at the Moment of Intersection. Tangent point 34 is where about the bottom of ball 30 is resting on ground 40. In one preferred embodiment, the intersection of centerline 14 and sightline 32 at the Moment of Intersection occurs within about 0.120 inches of point 34.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 2, shank 26 curves downward and away from centerline 14 and ball 30 to allow the Moment of Intersection to occur as centerline 14 intersects with about tangent point 34. Therefore, contact point 36 on face 21 is set back and away from centerline 14 by about a distance equal to the radius of the standard golf ball. Preferably, this set back distance is within about 0.120 inches of the distance equal to the radius of a standard golf ball, which for example is 0.840 inches.

[0015] While various designs of putters having putter heads that are offset are known, these prior art putters lack the advantageous design of the present invention. With the present invention, hosel 16 is configured such that centerline 14 is allowed to continue on and through hosel 16 down to about point 34 at the Moment of Intersection. Notably with prior art putters that are offset, the centerline does not continue through the center of the hosel, which is unlike the present invention. Therefore, these prior art putters relied on overcoming the torque applied to the shaft by increasing the weight of the toe of the putter head relative to the heel.

[0016] With the advantageous intersection of centerline 14 and sightline 32 of the present invention, a player no longer transmits any torque to shaft 12 or at least significantly reduces the amount of torque transmitted. As such, a player no longer needs to be concerned with compensating for this undesirable application of torque. Putter head 20 may then have toe 22 and heel 24 weighted about the same which will at least somewhat compensate for a player's swing or putt that is slightly askew to the intended target.

[0017] While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A golf club putter comprising:

a shaft for holding of the putter;

a putter head affixed to a terminal end of the shaft;

a hosel provided at an end of the putter head for receiving the terminal end of the shaft 5 wherein a centerline extends through the center of the shaft and continues through a center portion of the hosel.

2. The golf club putter of claim 1 wherein the hosel allows for the putter head to be recessed relative to the centerline of the putter.

3. The golf club putter of claim 2 wherein a distance of a contact point disposed on a face of the putter head to about a point that is perpendicular to the centerline of the putter, when the centerline is extended there through, is about equal to the radius of the golf ball.

4. The golf club putter of claim 3 wherein the distance is about 0.960 to about 0.720 inches.

5. The golf club putter of claim 4 wherein the distance is about 0.840 inches.

6. The golf club putter of claim 1 wherein the putter is formed such that, at about when the putter head at a desirable contact point disposed thereon contacts a golf ball, the centerline extends through about a center of the shaft and continues on through about a center portion of the hosel on to about a point on a sightline disposed through the golf ball.

7. The golf club putter of claim 6 wherein the centerline extends through about the center of the shaft and continues on through about the center portion of the hosel on to about a point of tangency of the golf ball and a surface where the golf ball is disposed.

8. The golf club putter of claim 7 wherein the centerline, when extended through to the surface, is within about 0.120 inches from the point of tangency.

9. The golf club putter of claim 1 wherein the putter head of the club is evenly weighted such that the a user need not apply substantially any torque to the putter while putting a golf ball to a desired location.

10. The golf club putter of claim 1 wherein a sweet spot is larger than that on a putter that has been weighted to compensate for user applied torque.

11. A golf club putter comprising:

a shaft for holding of the putter;

a putter head affixed to a terminal end of the shaft;

a hosel provided at an end of the putter head for receiving the terminal end of the shaft wherein the putter is formed such that, at about when the putter head at a desirable contact point disposed thereon contacts a golf ball, a centerline extends through about a center of the shaft and continues on through about a center portion of the hosel on to about a point on a sightline disposed through the golf ball.

12. The golf club putter of claim 11 wherein the distance of a contact point disposed on a face of the putter head to about a point that is perpendicular to the centerline of the putter, when the centerline is extended there through, is about equal to the radius of the golf ball.

13. The golf club putter of claim 12 wherein the distance is about 0.960 to about 0.720 inches.

14. The golf club putter of claim 13 wherein the distance is about 0.840 inches.

15. The golf club putter of claim 11 wherein the centerline extends through about the center of the shaft and continues on through about the center portion of the hosel on to about a point of tangency of the golf ball and a surface where the golf ball is disposed.

16. The golf club putter of claim 15 wherein the centerline, when extended through to the surface, is within about 0.120 inches from the point of tangency.

17. The golf club putter of claim 11 wherein the putter head of the club is evenly weighted such that the a user need not apply substantially any torque to the putter while putting a golf ball to a desired location.

18. The golf club putter of claim 1 wherein a sweet spot is larger than that on a putter that has been weighted to compensate for user applied torque.

19. A golf club putter comprising:

a shaft for holding of the putter;

a putter head affixed to a terminal end of the shaft;

a hosel provided at an end of the putter head for receiving the terminal end of the shaft 5 wherein the putter is formed such that, at about when the putter head at a desirable contact point disposed thereon contacts a golf ball, a centerline extends through about a center of the shaft and continues on through about a center portion of the hosel on to about a point of tangency of the golf ball and a surface where the golf ball is disposed.

20. The golf club putter of claim 19 wherein the putter head of the club is evenly weighted such that the a user need not apply substantially any torque to the putter while putting a golf ball to a desired location.