Golf putter

Abstract

A golf putter having upper and lower shaft members which are detachably secured together. The lower shaft member has a putter head secured thereto. In the preferred embodiment, enlarged grips are provided on the upper ends of the upper and lower shaft members. A locking screw connects the upper and lower shaft members to restrict the disconnection of the same.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a golf putter and more particularly to a golf putter including upper and lower shaft members which may be disconnected from one another for travel purposes. More particularly, the golf putter of this invention relates to a putter having a length sufficient so that a golfer may position the upper end of the upper shaft member between the inside upper portion of the golfer's leading arm and the side of the golfer's chest to position the upper end of the upper shaft member in position with respect to the golfer during the golfer's putting stroke.

2. Description of the Related Art

Many different types of putters have been previously provided. There is the conventional length putters, belly putters and sternum putters. It has been found that it is desirable to putt with the golfer's larger muscles other than with the golfer's smaller muscles. Many golfers who have experienced the “yips” go to the belly putters or the sternum putters so that they putt more with their arms and shoulders rather than with their hands and fingers. It has been found that an ideal putting stroke may be achieved if the upper end of an elongated putter is positioned between the inside upper portion of the golfer's leading arm and the golfer's chest and maintained therein during the putting stroke.

The rules of the United States Golf Association permit long putters which may be disconnected into two parts for travel purposes. The same must not be readily disconnected to deter the golfer from separating the putter into two pieces during play.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key aspects or essential aspects of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, this Summary is not intended for use as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

A golf putter is disclosed which includes a putter head which has a lower shaft member secured thereto and which extends upwardly therefrom. The putter also includes an upper shaft member wherein the lower end thereof may be threadably secured to the upper end of the lower shaft member so that the putter will have a combined length such that when the upper shaft member is secured to the lower shaft member, a golfer may position the upper end of the upper shaft member between the inside upper portion of the golfer's leading arm and the side of the golfer's chest to position the upper end of the upper shaft member in position with respect to the golfer during the golfer's putting stroke.

In the preferred embodiment, an enlarged grip is mounted on the lower shaft member at the upper end thereof and an enlarged grip is mounted on the upper shaft member at the upper end thereof. The upper and lower shafts may be tapered or have a constant diameter.

It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide an improved golf putter.

A further object of the invention is to provide a two-piece golf putter having a length such that the upper end of the putter may be positioned between the inside upper portion of the golfer's leading arm and the side of the golfer's chest to maintain the upper end of the upper shaft member in position with respect to the golfer during the golfer's putting stroke.

A further object of the invention is to provide a golf putter of the type described which forces the golfer into a better putting stroke.

A further object of the invention is to provide a two-piece putter including means for restricting the disconnection of the upper and lower shafts during play.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a two-piece putter wherein the lower section of the putter, when the two-pieces are disconnected, may be used as a putter.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the assembled putter;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the putter of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the means for locking the upper shaft member to the lower shaft member of the putter;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the putter which does not have any grips formed thereon;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an assembled putter having tapered shafts; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a golfer having the upper end of the golf putter positioned between the golfer's leading arm and the side of the golfer's chest.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Embodiments are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying figures, which form a part hereof and show, by way of illustration, specific exemplary embodiments. These embodiments are disclosed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. However, embodiments may be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense in that the scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims.

In FIG. 1, the numeral refers to the golf putter of this invention including a putter head 12, lower shaft member 14 and upper shaft member 16. The lower end of shaft member 14 is secured to the putter head 12 by any conventional means. The upper end of lower shaft member 14 preferably has an enlarged grip 18 provided therein. The upper end of upper shaft member 16 preferably has an enlarged grip 20 provided thereon.

The lower end of upper shaft member 16 has a plug 22 inserted into the lower end thereof and which is secured thereto as seen in FIG. 3. An externally threaded stud 24 extends downwardly from the plug 22 and has a transversely extending bore 26 extending thereinto which extends into the stud for a distance greater than one-half of the diameter of the stud 24.

The upper end of lower shaft section 14 has a plug 28 received therein and which has an internally threaded bore 30 adapted to threadably receive the stud 24. An elongated internally threaded bore 32 is formed in plug 28 which is adapted to threadably receive an allen screw 34. Grip 18 is provided with an opening 36 which communicates with opening 38 formed in shaft member 14 as seen in FIG. 3. Openings 36 and 38 communicate with bore 32 to enable allen screw 34 to be threadably inserted into bore 32 to restrict the disconnection of shaft members 14 and 16.

The shaft sections 16 and 14 may be secured together by threadably inserting the stud 24 into the internally threaded bore 30 of plug 28. When the stud 24 has been sufficiently tightened within the internally threaded bore 30, the allen screw 34 is threadably inserted into bore 32 and is moved inwardly until the inner end of the allen screw is received by the bore 26 to prevent the ready disconnection of the shaft section 16 from the shaft section 14.

In use, assuming that the golfer is right handed, as seen in FIG. 6, the golfer will place the upper end of the shaft section 16 between the inside surface of his/her left arm and the side of the golfer's chest and securely maintain the putter in that position by lightly squeezing the golfer's left arm against the upper end of the putter. The golfer will grasp the grip 18 with his/her right hand and address the ball. The fact that the upper end of the putter 10 is anchored between the golfer's arm and the golfer's chest causes the golfer to make a pendulum stroke without any hand action. In other words, the golfer uses the golfer's large muscles rather than the golfer's small muscles to execute the putting stroke.

The putter of FIG. 4 is designated by the reference numeral 10′ and is identical to the putter of FIG. 1 except that the putter 10′ does not have any grips thereon.

The putter illustrated in FIG. 5 is designated by the reference numeral 10″ and includes tapered shaft members rather than shaft members of a constant diameter.

It should be noted that when the shaft section 16 is disconnected from shaft section 14, shaft section 14, with the putter head 12 affixed thereto, may be used as a putter having a more conventional length.

Thus it can be seen that a novel golf putter, which when assembled, has a length sufficient so that the golfer may place the upper end of the putter between the inside portion of the golfer's leading arm and the side of the golfer's chest to firmly position the putter in position. It can also be seen that a novel means has been provided which prevents the “ready” disconnection of the shaft members during play as required by USGA rules.

It can therefore be seen that the putter accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

Although the invention has been described in language that is specific to certain structures and methodological steps, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific structures and/or steps described. Rather, the specific aspects and steps are described as forms of implementing the claimed invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.

Claims

1. A golf putter comprising:

a putter head;

a lower shaft member having upper and lower ends;

said lower end of said lower shaft member being secured to said putter head so as to extend upwardly therefrom;

an upper shaft member having upper and lower ends;

said lower end of said upper shaft member being selectively removably secured to said upper end of said lower shaft member so as to extend upwardly therefrom;

said lower and upper shaft members having a combined length, when said upper shaft member is secured to said lower shaft member, so that a golfer may position said upper end of said upper shaft member between the inside upper portion of the golfer's leading arm and the side of the golfer's chest to position said upper end of said upper shaft member in position with respect to the golfer during the golfer's putting stroke.

2. The golf putter of claim 1 wherein an enlarged grip is mounted on said lower shaft member at the upper end thereof.

3. The golf putter of claim 1 wherein an enlarged grip is mounted on said upper shaft member at the upper end thereof.

4. The golf putter of claim 2 wherein an enlarged grip is mounted on said upper shaft member at the upper end thereof.

5. The golf putter of claim 1 wherein each of said lower and upper shaft members are cylindrical in cross-section.

6. The golf putter of claim 5 wherein each of said lower and upper shaft members have the same diameters.

7. The golf putter of claim 1 wherein said lower shaft member is tapered.

8. The golf putter of claim 1 wherein said upper shaft member is tapered.

9. The golf putter of claim 7 wherein said upper shaft member is tapered.

10. The golf putter of claim 1 further including means to selectively secure said upper shaft member to said lower shaft member to restrict the disconnection of said upper shaft member from said lower shaft member.

11. The golf putter of claim 1 wherein said upper end of said lower shaft member has an internally threaded bore extending downwardly thereinto and wherein said lower end of said upper shaft has an externally threaded stud adapted to be threadably received by said internally threaded bore at said upper end of said lower shaft member.

12. The golf putter of claim 11 wherein an externally threaded locking screw extends inwardly through said upper end of said lower shaft member and which is received by said externally threaded stud.

13. The golf putter of claim 12 wherein said threaded locking screw is received by an opening in said externally threaded stud.

14. The golf putter of claim 13 wherein said threaded locking screw extends into said externally threaded stud for at least one-half of the diameter of said externally threaded stud.

15. The golf putter of claim 1 wherein said upper shaft member may have variable lengths.

16. The golf putter of claim 1 wherein said lower shaft member may have variable lengths.

17. The golf putter of claim 16 wherein said upper shaft member may have variable lengths.