US20080280693A1

US20080280693A1 - Golf Club, Club Head and Body of the Club Head

Info

Publication number: US20080280693A1
Application number: US11/569,815
Authority: US
Inventors: Dong Hua Chai
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-08-22
Filing date: 2006-03-29
Publication date: 2008-11-13
Also published as: WO2007022671A1

Abstract

A golf club comprises a club head and a club shaft, in which, the head includes a main body with a top hole arranged in a top portion thereof and a bottom hole corresponding to the top hole in a bottom portion of the same, and also includes a joint, one end of which is an insertion end inserted into and located by a Location structure within the top hole, and connected with a fastener arranged at the bottom of the main body, the other end of which is fixedly secured to the shaft. The fixedly secured joint portion passes through a passage communicating with the top hole and the bottom hole. The above arrangement is convenient for the detachment of the golf shaft and the random combination of the head and the shaft.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sports instrument, more particularly, relates to a golf club, club head and body of the club head.
2. Description of the Related Art
A golf club comprises a club head and a shaft. Normally, it is manufactured as a whole piece that cannot be taken apart. While players hitting the golf ball, different specifications of shafts and spine positions caused by procedure limitation and production inconsistency have significantly different effects. Therefore, manufacturers and stores have to provide customers with golf clubs' combination of different specifications of shafts and club heads. Traditional club head and shaft are connected by adhesive, which results in a time delay before using the club. Moreover, if the shaft or club head do not fit with each other, the shaft has to be removed from the club head, in this regard, the shaft may be damaged. Therefore, the club heads and the shafts of the golf clubs in the prior art cannot be separated easily; this will make the selection of golf clubs complex. Selecting golf clubs not only needs lots of time, but also increases cost while purchasing a suitable golf club.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a golf club, especially for drivers, fairway woods and hybrids, with simple structure and easy disassembling, to solve the problem of the golf club in the prior art.
The solution for solving the problem in the prior art is, providing a golf club that comprises a club head and a shaft. The club head comprises a body and an exchangeable hosel. The crown of the body is set with a generally round crown opening, while a sole opening is set on the sole portion of the body correspondingly. One end of the exchangeable hosel is an insertion end, while the other end which shares the same axis with insertion portion of the exchangeable hosel fits and secures a shaft. The exchangeable hosel inserts into the crown opening of the body and fixed by a position holding structure thereof, thus to keep durable connection with the locking member on the sole portion of the body. The connection portion of the locking member connects the crown opening and sole opening of the club head body via a passage.
Advantageously, the sole opening of the club head is a counter bore, the locking member sinks into the sole opening.
Advantageously, the sole opening of the club head body and the passage is incorporated to form a through opening. The locking member is set on the outer surface that around the sole opening of the club head body.
Advantageously, the club head body is hollow. The sole opening is a through opening. The passage is an upper connection opening set on the bottom of the crown opening. The locking member is set around the upper connection opening that on the inner surface of the club head body
Advantageously, the durable connection between the insertion end of the exchangeable hosel and the locking member is thread connection.
Advantageously, the locking member is a bolt. The insertion end of the exchangeable hosel is provided with an internal thread to cooperate with the bolt. The connection portion of the durable connection is the thread of the bolt.
Advantageously, the locking member is a nut. The insertion end of the exchangeable hosel is provided with external threads to cooperate with the nut. The connection portion of the durable connection is the thread portion of the insertion end of the exchangeable hosel.
Advantageously, the position holding structure comprises inner splines and outer splines between crown opening wall of the club head body and the insertion end of the exchangeable hosel, which joggle with each other, and a flange which is set on the insertion end of the exchangeable hosel and stays on the crown portion of the club head body.
Advantageously, the inner splines and outer splines are tapering splines that joggle with each other.
Advantageously, a tapering portion that cooperates with each other is set between the crown opening of the club head and the insertion end of the exchangeable hosel.
Still another solution for solving the problem in the prior art is, to provide a golf club that comprises a club head and a club shaft. The club head comprises a body and an exchangeable hosel. The body is provided with a generally round crown opening, while a sole opening is set on the sole portion that corresponds to the crown opening. The club shaft is fitted and secured into the centre hole that set in the centre of the exchangeable hosel, and cooperates with the exchangeable hosel to form an insertion end. The insertion end inserts and stays in the crown opening of the body by the position holding structure on the exchangeable hosel. The insertion end is fixed on the club head body by the durable connection between the club shaft and a locking member on the sole portion of the body. The connection portion of the locking member connects the crown opening and sole opening inside the passage of the club head body.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a universal club head that may be assembled a golf club with various club shafts.
The solution for solving this problem is, providing a club head for golf club, the club head comprises a body and an exchangeable hosel. The crown of the body is provided with a generally round crown opening. A sole opening sharing the same axis with the crown opening is provided as well. The crown opening and sole opening are connected with each other. The exchangeable hosel inserts into the crown opening of the body and fixed by a position holding structure thereof, to connect firmly with a locking member on the sole portion of the body. The connection portion of the locking member connects the crown opening and sole opening inside the passage of the club head body
Advantageously, inner splines and outer splines which joggle with each other is set between the position holding structure that comprises a crown opening wall of the club head body and the insertion end of the exchangeable hosel.
Advantageously, a tapering portion that cooperates with each other is set between the crown opening of the club head and the insertion end of the exchangeable hosel.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a body of club head as a part of a golf club.
The solution for solving another problem in the prior art is to provide a body of a golf club head. A generally round crown opening is provided on the crown of the head body, while a sole opening sharing same axis with the crown opening is provided on the sole. The sole opening is a counter bore. The crown opening and the sole opening are connected each other.
Advantageously, tapering splines is provided on the wall of the crown opening.
The benefits of implementing the present invention are: locking member from the sole portion of the club head connects the exchangeable hosel inserted into the crown of the club head opening, so as to fix the shaft that cooperates with the exchangeable hosel on the club head body. Meanwhile, assembling and disassembling of the club head body and the exchangeable hosel may be carried out easily. While selecting clubs, one can select different club heads, club shafts, as well as different spines position of the shafts to make various combinations. In addition, iterations of disassembling and assembling will not damage the golf club. Therefore, the cost of money and time is saved while purchasing golf clubs. Furthermore, the locking member is a bolt or nut, and the durable connection is by threads connection, thus one can use common tools to disassemble and assemble the golf club.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is the structure view of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is the structure view of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is the structure view of the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is the structure view of the forth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is the structure view of the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 1, the golf club in the first embodiment of the present invention comprises a club head 20, a club shaft 90 and a locking member 30. The club head 20 comprises a body 10, an exchangeable hosel 80. The crown portion of the body 10 is provided with a generally round crown opening 40. The sole portion of the club head body 10 is provided with a sole opening 50 correspondingly. The sole opening 50 shares the same axis with the crown opening 40. The sole opening 50 and the crown opening are connected via a passage 60. The club head body 10 may be designed into different sizes and shapes if required.
Club shaft 90 may also be designed into different lengths and shapes. One end of the exchangeable hosel 80 is an insertion end 70 that inserts into the crown opening 40 of the club head body. The position holding structure may be set as: the insertion end 70 of the exchangeable hosel is provided with a flange 71 for positioning. The flange 71 preferably contacts the top portion of the crown opening 40 of the body to limit the up and down movements of the insertion end 70 in crown opening 40. The flange 71 may sink into the crown opening 40, which contacts the step of the crown opening 40 to limit the up and down movements of the insertion end 70 in crown opening 40. The insertion end 70 is also provided with a rotation detent 72. The position in the crown opening 40 which corresponds to the rotation detent 72 is provided with a slot 42 to embed the rotation detent 72. The rotation detent 72 inserts into the slot 42 to limit the circumferential rotation of the exchangeable hosel 80.
The crown opening 40 may be a counter bore. That is, the diameter of the crown opening is bigger than the diameter of the bottom portion of the crown opening, further; the diameter of the crown opening is bigger than the diameter of the passage. The crown opening 40 may also be a through opening, that is, the diameter of the crown opening is smaller than or equal to the diameter of the bottom portion of the crown opening; further, the diameter of the crown opening is smaller than or equal to the diameter of the passage. The sole opening 50 may be a counter bore. That is, the diameter of the sole opening is bigger than the diameter of the bottom portion of the sole opening; further, the diameter of the sole opening is bigger than the diameter of the passage. The locking member 30 is sunk into the sole opening 50. The locking member 30 is connected durably with the insertion end 70. The connection of the durable connection connects with the passage 60 via the club head body 10. Preferably, the durable connection is by threads connection, and preferably, the locking member 30 is a bolt. The external thread 31 of the bolt is the connection portion of the durable connection. The external threads 31 passes through passage 60 and gets into the crown opening 40 to connect durably with the internal threads of the insertion end 70. The bolt may be an inner hexagonal head or an outer hexagonal head, it may also be fasteners that can be easily disassembled and assembled, such as Philip's head or slotted head etc. The locking member 30 may also be a nut. As shown in FIG. 5, the insertion end 70 passes through the passage 60 and gets into the sole opening 50 to form the connection portion of the durable connection. The nut and the external threads of the insertion end 70 are durably connected to fix the exchangeable hosel 80 on the club head body 10. When changing or assembling components, only need to disassemble the locking member 30 out of the sole opening 50. The user can select suitable shafts and find suitable spines position of the shafts by turning the shaft to assemble club heads. It is easy to use, while reduces the cost of purchasing various kinds of golf clubs.
FIG. 2 is the structure view of the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the golf club comprises a club head 20, a club shaft 90 and a locking member 30. The club head 20 comprises a body 10, an exchangeable hosel 80. The crown portion of the club head body 10 is provided with a generally round crown opening 40. The sole portion of the club head body 10 is provided with a sole opening 50 that corresponds to the crown opening 40. A certain space 1 is provided between crown opening 40 and sole opening 50. The lower portion of the crown opening 40 is provided with an upper connection opening 41. The bottom portion of the sole opening 50 is provided with a lower connection opening 51. The passage that connects the crown opening 40 and the sole opening 50 is formed by the upper connection opening 41, the lower connection opening 51 and the space 1 between the crown opening and the sole opening. The durable connection can be set as mentioned in the first embodiment. That is, the bolt passes through the passage to the crown opening 40 to connect durably with the insertion end 70. Alternatively, the external thread of the insertion end 70 passes through the passage 60 into the sole opening 50 to connect durably with the nut. As shown in FIG. 2, the durable connection may be set as follows: that is, the insertion end 70 passes through the upper connection opening 41 into the space 1 between the crown opening 40 and the sole opening 50, and the bolt passes through the lower connection opening 51 into the space 1 between the crown opening 40 and the sole opening 50, then the bolt and the insertion end 70 are connected durably in the space 1. Preferably, the space is formed by the hollow club head body 10 naturally.
As shown in the above-mentioned first and second embodiments, when the golfer is a right handed, preferably, the threads durable connection is by left hand threads connection; when the golfer is left handed, the threads is by right hand threads connection preferably. Thus, the impaction when hitting the ball will fasten the threads connection so as to prevent the locking member 30 from losing. A skid proof underlay may also be provided to prevent the durable connection from losing.
As described in the first and second embodiments, the sole opening 50 is a counter bore preferably. The flange 71 of the insertion end 70 contacts with the topside of the crown opening 50. The locking member 30 is fixed on the bottom portion of the sole opening 50. Thus, the locking member 30 sink into the club head body 10, instead of leaving outside of the club head body 10, which affect hitting the ball, as well as making the golf club look nice.
FIG. 3 is the structure view of the third embodiment of the present invention. The golf club shown in FIG. 3 comprises a club head 20, a club shaft 90 and a locking member 30. The club head 20 comprises a body 10 and an exchangeable hosel 80. As is same in the first and second embodiments, the crown portion of the club head body 10 is provided with a generally round crown opening 40, while the sole portion of the club head body 10 is provided with a sole opening 50 corresponds to the crown opening 40. The sole opening 50 shares the same axis with the crown opening 40. The sole opening 50 and crown opening 40 is connected by a passage. But the position holding structure 40 for holding the position of the exchangeable hosel insertion end 70 in the crown opening is different from those in the first and second embodiments: an insertion end 70 is also provided with a flange 71 for preventing the exchangeable hosel 80 from up and down movement, and the limitation of circumferential rotation is realized by inner splines 43 and outer splines 73 between the wall of crown opening 40 of the club head body and the insertion end 70 of the exchangeable hosel. The inner splines 43 and outer splines 73 are preferably straight splines along the axis direction of the crown opening 40. The sectional shape of the splines is rectangle preferably. When hitting the ball to cause impaction, the inner and outer splines joggled with each other, so that the position holding structure is with good durability. Therefore, the insertion end 70 of the exchangeable hosel 80 is fixed inside the crown opening 40 of the club head body 10. Certainly, the inner splines 43 and outer splines 73 can also be bevel splines that joggle with each other, while the sectional shape may also be involute, trapezia etc. The position holding structure between the exchangeable hosel insertion end 70 and the body crown opening in the first and second embodiments may also be set as the inner and outer splines joggling structure in the present embodiment.
In this embodiment, the sole opening 50 of the club head body 10 and the passage that connects with the crown opening and the sole opening 50 incorporated to form a through opening 2. That is, the passage expands downwards to the surface of the sole portion of the club head body 10. A step 3 is provided near the through opening 2 of the sole portion of the club head body 10. The locking member 30 is provided on the step 3 to connect durably with the exchangeable hosel insertion end 70. The durable connection may be set as the threads connection or other durable connection as in embodiments 1 and 2. Meanwhile, the connection of the durable connection may be set as in embodiments 1 and 2.
FIG. 4 is the structure view of the forth embodiment of the present invention. The golf club comprises a club head body 10, an exchangeable hosel 80 and a locking member 30. The crown portion of the club head body 10 is provided with a generally round crown opening 40, while the sole portion of the club head body 10 is provided with a sole opening 50 corresponds to the crown opening 40. The sole opening 50 shares the same axis with the crown opening 40. The sole opening 50 is connected with the crown opening 40 via a passage. The club head body 10 is hollow, the crown opening 40 is a counter bore, and the sole opening 50 is a through opening. The size of the sole opening 50 is greater than the size of the locking member 30, that is, the locking member 30 can pass through the sole opening 50 and enter into the cavity of the club head body 10. The lower portion of the crown opening 40 is provided with an upper connection opening 41 that connects the crown opening 40 to the cavity of the club head body 10. The passage is formed by the upper connection opening 41 and the cavity between the crown opening 40 and sole opening 50. The crown opening can also be a counter bore opening. That is, the diameter of the crown opening is bigger than the diameter of the upper connection opening that set on the lower portion of the crown opening. At this point, the locking member is fixed on the wall of the lower portion of the crown opening in the club head body. The crown opening can be a through opening also, that is, the wall of the crown opening extends into the cavity of the club head body. At this point, the locking member can be fixed on the end of the wall of the crown opening by a washer or directly fixed on the end of the wall of the crown opening.
One end of the exchangeable hosel 80 is an insertion end 70. The positioning holding structure between the insertion end and the crown opening 40 of the club head body may be the same configuration as in embodiments 1, 2 and 3. The difference between embodiments 1, 2, 3 and the present invention is, the durable connection structure between the insertion end 70 and the locking member 30 is different: the locking member 30 passes through the sole opening 50 of the club head body, and set on the inner wall of the club head body 10 that near a upper connection opening 41, to connect durably with the insertion end 70 of the exchangeable hosel 80. The connection of the durable connection is implemented by the upper connection opening 41 as in embodiments 1, 2, 3. The connection manner of the durable connection may be implemented as in embodiments 1, 2, 3, preferably, it is by threads connection. The locking member 30 may be a nut, and preferably a bolt.
As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, a tapering portion that cooperates with each other is set between the insertion end 70 of the exchangeable hosel and the crown opening 40 of the club head. While assembling, the exchangeable hosel 80 may insert into the crown opening 40 easily, which makes the assembling quicker. The same tapering portion may also be applied in embodiments 1, 2, 3.
When the tapering portion cooperates with the positioning holding structure between the insertion end 70 of the exchangeable hosel and the crown opening 40 of the club head body, the fifth embodiment of the present invention is constructed. As shown in FIG. 5, at this point, the rotation detent structure of the circumferential rotation between the crown opening 40 of the club head body and the insertion end 70 of the exchangeable hosel is the inner and outer splines structure in the third embodiment. The inner splines 43 and the outer splines 73 are tapering splines 5 that joggle with each other. The tapering splines 5 may limit the circumferential rotation of the insertion end 70 of the exchangeable hosel inside the crown opening 40 of the club head body. It may also direct the exchangeable hosel 80 to insert into the crown opening 40 easily.
In the first to fifth embodiments of the present invention, one end of the exchangeable hosel 80 is the insertion end 70 of the exchangeable hosel. The other end which shares the same axis with insertion portion of the exchangeable hosel fixes on one end of the club shaft 90 by adhesive connection. As shown in FIG. 4, a durable connection structure that connects the insertion end 70 and locking member 30 as in the first to fifth embodiments may be set on the exchangeable hosel 80, as well as the positioning holding structure between the insertion end 70 of the exchangeable hosel and the crown opening 40 of the club head body. By setting the durable connection structure and positioning holding structure in a single component, that is, exchangeable hosel 80, the durable connection structure and positioning structure are easy to manufacture, thus the cost is decreased at the same time. Certainly, the exchangeable hosel 80 and club shaft 90 may be manufactured as a whole.
FIG. 5 is the structure view of the fifth embodiment of the present invention. The exchangeable hosel 80 is provided with a centre opening 81. One end of the club shaft 90 passes through the centre opening 81. The configuration of the end of the club shaft 90 is the same as the durable connection structure of the insertion end 70 in the first to fifth embodiments, to connect durably with the locking member 30. The club shaft 90 cooperates closely with the centre opening 81 of the exchangeable hosel by adhering or welding. The exchangeable hosel 80 and club shaft 90 jointly forms the positioning holding structure of the insertion end 70 as in the first to fifth embodiments. Thus, to make the exchangeable hosel 80 to insert the positioning holding structure and stays in the crown opening 40 of the club head body 10. In this regard, the positioning holding structure between the insertion end 70 and the crown opening 40 of the club head body is set on the exchangeable hosel 80. The durable connection structure between the insertion end 70 and the locking member 30 is set on the club shaft 90.
In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the locking member 30 may be set as different weights to adjust the total weights of the golf club.
Various club head and various club shaft with different sprain positions in the embodiments described above may be assembled to form different golf clubs.
Also, various club head body and various exchangeable hosel in the embodiments described above may be assembled to form different club heads of golf clubs.
In the present invention, the durable connection manners between the exchangeable hosel 80 and locking member 30 are not limited by the embodiments described above. Any manner that the exchangeable hosel 80 inserts into the generally round crown opening 40 of the club head body 10 with position holding structure by insertion end which shares same axis with exchangeable hosel, and connects durably with the locking member 30 on the sole portion of the club head body 10 in the passage 60 will fall into the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A golf club comprising:

a club head and a shaft;

said club head having a body and an exchangeable hosel;

a crown of said body being set with a generally round crown opening, and a sole opening being set on a sole portion of said body correspondingly;

one end of said exchangeable hosel being an insertion end, and other end which shares same axis with said insertion end being fitting and securing end for said shaft;

said exchangeable hosel being inserted into said crown opening of said body and being fixed by a position holding structure thereof, to keep a durable connection with a locking member on the sole portion of said body;

a connection portion of said locking member passing through said crown opening and said sole opening located inside a passage of said club head body.

2. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the sole opening of said club head is a counter bore, said locking member is sunk inside said sole opening.

3. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the sole opening of said club head body and said passage are incorporated to form a single through opening, said locking member is fixed on the outer surface of said club head that near said sole opening.

4. The golf club as in claim 1, wherein said club head body is hollow; said sole opening is a through opening, said passage is an upper connection opening set on a lower portion of said crown opening, and said locking member is set on the inner surface of said club head body that near the upper connection opening.

5. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the durable connection between the insertion end of said exchangeable hosel and the locking member is a threads connection.

6. The golf club of claim 5, wherein said locking member is a bolt; the insertion end of said exchangeable hosel is provided with an internal threads to cooperate with said bolt; the connection portion of said durable connection is a threads of the bolt.

7. The golf club of claim 5, wherein said locking member is a nut; the insertion end of said exchangeable hosel is provided with threads to cooperate with said nut, the connection portion of said durable connection is a thread portion of the insertion end of said exchangeable hosel.

8. The golf club of claim 5, wherein inner splines and outer splines which joggles with each other are set between the position holding structure comprising a crown opening wall in said club head body and the insertion end of said exchangeable hosel, a flange set on the insertion end of said exchangeable hosel, said flange stays on the crown portion of said club head body.

9. The golf club of claim 8, wherein said inner splines and outer splines are tapering splines that joggle with each other.

10. The golf club of claim 5, wherein tapering portions that cooperates with each other are set between the crown opening of said club head and the insertion end of said exchangeable hosel.

11. The golf club of claim 1, wherein said golf club is for drivers, fairway woods and hybrids.

12. A golf club comprising

a club head and a club shaft;

said club head having a body and an exchangeable hosel, said body is provided with an generally round crown opening, and a sole opening set on the sole portion;

said club shaft fixed in a center hole located in the center of said exchangeable hosel cooperating with said exchangeable hosel to form an insertion end, which sharing a same axis with said exchangeable hosel;

said insertion end being inserted into the crown opening of said body and being fixed inside by a position holding structure;

said insertion end being fixed on said club head through a durable connection between said club shaft and a locking member on the sole portion of said body;

the connection portion of said locking member passing through said crown opening and said sole opening located inside the passage of the club head body.

13. A club head for golf club comprising:

a body and an exchangeable hosel;

a crown of said body being provided with a generally round crown opening and a sole opening sharing the same axis with the crown opening that is set on sole of said body, said crown opening and said sole opening being connected with each other;

said exchangeable hosel being inserted into said crown opening of said body and being fixed by a position holding structure thereof, and being connected firmly with a locking member on the sole portion of said body;

the connection portion of said locking member passing said crown opening and said sole opening located inside the passage of said club head body.

14. The club head of claim 13, wherein inner splines and outer splines which joggles with each other are set between a position of a crown opening wall of said club head body and a insertion end of said exchangeable hosel.

15. The club head of claim 13, wherein tapering portions that cooperate with each other are set between the crown opening of said club head and an insertion end of said exchangeable hosel.

15-16. (canceled)